Three's A Crowd
by heytheregisela
Summary: Nat and Edd have become friends through tutoring since the start of sophomore year. Now they're starting junior year, and Nat can't deny having feelings for Edd, but now Kevin may be finding an interest in Edd as well and asks Nat for help. Nat has to choose between sitting around and watching them together or stepping up and risking his friendship with both of them. Kevedd, Natedd
1. Chapter one

A/N: Hey everyone! Well, I was not planning on posting this until after I was completely done with Words Speak Loud, but I felt inspired and confident about this one, so here's the first chapter.

Keep in mind that this will have both Kevedd and Natedd.

Nat belongs to c2ndy2c1d.

* * *

Nathan rested lazily on his back next to his best friend, Kevin, his arms sprawled over his head. Beneath them, the dark green grass of Kevin's lawn was moist from having had the sprinklers on earlier. The hot summer sun beamed on their faces.

"Alright, I'm getting sweaty now," Kevin said, sitting up. The redhead yawned and stretched. "Come on, Goldberg. Let's go inside."

"Kevin, relax," Nat said. "I'm not done tanning yet." He gave his friend a cheesy grin in which Kevin rolled his eyes at.

"Whatever you say, grasshead. I'm going to get something to drink. You want anything?"

Nat thought about for it second and nodded. "Yeah, lemonade if you got any."

Kevin walked into his house to retrieve the refreshments while Nat remained on the grass, his eyes shut as he enjoyed the warmth of the sun. He sighed loudly.

A soft giggle startled him. The green-haired teen opened his eyes wide and looked up to find Eddward standing on the sidewalk, covering his mouth to prevent himself from laughing any more.

"E-Edd," Nat stuttered as he jumped up on his feet. "Hey, man. H-h-how's it going?" The teen scratched the back of his head, wiping off some pieces of grass as he did so. He grinned nervously at the smaller teen wearing a black beanie, khaki shorts, a short-sleeve light blue collar shirt with a green and dark blue plaid vest over it. Nat looked down at his own outfit. He was just wearing a white tank top with navy blue basketball shorts.

"Salutations, Nathan," Edd greeted with a smile. "I hope I didn't interrupt you."

"Nah, I'm fine." Nat brushed off the back of his tank top and smiled gently, gaining his confidence in front of the sockhead.

"Well, I'm heading off to Ed's house now," Double D said, "I will see you tomorrow at school." He waved goodbye to Nat before continuing his walk.

Nat waved back and pouted a little.

"Man, why are you friends with one of the dorks?" Kevin's voice appeared from behind.

Nathan turned around to face his friend and took the glass of cold lemonade from his hand. The green-haired teen shrugged and said, "He's pretty cool for a dork. You should give him a chance, Kev."

Kevin chuckled and shook his head. "No thanks. I wouldn't wanna be friends with someone who's a hundred times smarter than me. He'd just end up annoying me."

"Not really. He's pretty funny and comes in handy if you need help with something." Nat took a sip of his lemonade and licked his lips. "He's mainly the only reason I even passed Algebra two with a B."

Kevin took Nat's words into consideration. He held the cup up to his lips, but stopped when he saw the three Eds walking out of Ed's house. Double D seemed awfully disgusted with something Ed was holding. Kevin smiled slightly and looked at Nat. "I guess."

* * *

The two of them spent the rest of their last day of summer vacation watching movies with their other friends in the cul-de-sac: Nazz, Rolf, Jonny, Sarah, and Jimmy. The Eds weren't invited, as usual, even though none of them really had a problem with them anymore. It was still a little weird hanging around those three when they were completely different from all of them. Besides, the Eds had other plans. They always did.

The gang watched around five movies from romantic to comedy to horror. Nat and Rolf were the only ones to not jump at any scary scenes. Kevin would annoyingly punch Nat's shoulder for not reacting, and Nat would just laugh. Once the ending credits to the last movie played, the green-haired teen rose and yawned loudly.

"I'mma get going, guys," he announced.

Nazz stood up and embraced him tightly. "See you tomorrow, Nat." She smiled and let go of him.

Nat nodded and said his goodbyes to everyone else. He made his way out of Kevin's house. The summer night air was fresh against his bare arms and face. He stuffed his hand into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out his car keys. Making his way towards his car, he looked up and saw a figure walking towards the house across Kevin's. Nat squinted his eyes to adjust his vision to the darkness and realized it was Edd.

A wide grin spread across his face. "Hey, Edd!" He called out.

Double D gasped at the sound of his name. He looked over and sighed in relief. "Oh, Nathan. You frightened me." The sockhead made his to Nat and smiled once he reached him.

Nat leaned against his car and crossed his arms. "Sorry for scaring you."

"All is forgiven. Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"For school?" Nat scrunched up his nose. "Pfft, nope!"

Edd laughed softly, revealing the gap between his teeth. Nat felt a sort of tingle feeling inside his stomach, but he ignored it and just smiled at Double D.

"I bet you've been ready since before sophomore year even ended," he teased. Edd furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes, giving Nat his turn to laugh.

"I'm just kidding, Edd!" But Nat continued to laugh.

"Yes, yes, _charming_," Double D answered.

The green-haired teen stopped laughing at once and cleared his throat. The awkward silence between wasn't something Nat was used to. He could always have a conversation with anyone without any of the awkwardness he was experiencing now with Edd.

"So..." he spoke, "Got any plans for the school year? Like clubs or stuff..."

"I assume you're going to be on the football team this year again, correct?" Edd asked. Nat grinned proudly as he nodded. Double D smiled and began to answer Nat's question. Nathan was listening... at first. The street light Edd was standing under gave his blue eyes a more luminous glow that made them sparkle. Nat found himself staring into them, lost in thought about how mesmerizing they were. A dreamy smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Double D continued to speak, going on and on about a new club he heard rumors about, but once he finished, he looked at Nat in confusion. The green-haired teen was just staring at him with a sort of dazed expression.

"Um... Nathan?" Edd leaned forward and gently shook the other by the shoulder.

Nat blinked a few times and jumped back, laughing nervously. "Heh heh, sorry about that, man. I guess I dozed off, thinking about this girl." He winked at the smaller teen.

Edd smiled and nodded. "That's quite all right, Nathan." Nat hated being called 'Nathan', but he had made an exception for Edd, because well... he was Edd, and there was just something about the way Double D said 'Nathan' that made it tolerable.

"I will excuse myself now," Edd said. "Goodnight." With a simple pat on Nat's shoulder, Double D turned and headed up to his front door.

"Night Edd," Nat softly said back.

Edd glanced over his shoulder and waved with a smile before entering his home and closing the door behind him, leaving Nat alone in the darkness of the cul-de-sac. The green-haired teen sighed and got into his car.

* * *

"Alright," Kevin said to Nat as the two made their way into the school building of Peach Creek High. "I have English 3 with Caesar, second period Earth Science with Johnson, third period cooking with Rogers-"

Edd looked up from his own schedule and turned to see Kevin loudly announcing his classes to his best friend. Double D smiled and sauntered over to them.

"Why Kevin," he spoke. Kevin and Nat turned their attention to the shorter teen. Nat tried hiding his smile by covering his mouth with hand. "It seems we have third period together," Edd finished.

The redhead groaned silently as he turned so his back would be facing Edd. "Great," he mumbled to Nat.

Nat narrowed his eyes at Kevin, and then smiled at Edd. "What other classes do you have?"

Double D handed over his schedule and Nat took it. His heart raced with excitement as he started reading over it, but frowned once he was done.

"Oh, man," he said in almost a whisper, "I guess we don't have any classes together." Nat didn't want to make it obvious that he was upset, but it did bum him out a little. He was hoping to get another class with the sockhead so they could have another reason to hangout and get to know each other better. He simply shrugged and handed the piece of paper back to Edd.

"Well, that won't stop us from communicating, will it?" Double D asked with a sly smile.

Nat scratched the back of his head as he grinned nervously. He shook his head and said, "Nah, man. We can still talk and chill if you want." His eyes shifted over to the redhead standing next to him.

Kevin wasn't even paying any attention. He was too busy texting back someone. Nat peeked over his shoulder and Kevin jumped back.

"Dude, really?" The redhead rolled his eyes playfully. This made Nat loosen up a little. His grin was now more cocky than nervous.

He wrapped an around Kevin's neck and said, "I see you and Nazz are getting flirty." Nat winked at his best friend, but Kevin just pushed him off and laughed.

Edd also laughed, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth. The redhead took notice of this and smiled. Double D cleared his throat when he stopped laughing and returned Kevin's smile. Nat looked at them both smiling at each other and frowned. Why was he feeling jealous? Kevin wasn't gay, and even if he did like guys, Nat knew Kevin wouldn't go for one of the Eds. But then again, why wouldn't he go for Edd? The lanky teen was a complete intelligent sweetheart with a side of sass.

Nat shook his head. He was looking too much into a simple exchange of smiles. Kevin was now staring at him with bewildered eyes and Nat couldn't think of anything to say or do but smirk. Usually, he was smooth and confident with everything, but that little sockhead had a way of making him flustered with just his presence.

_It's just a stupid crush, it'll go away, _he reminded himself and it honestly made him feel more relaxed. He sighed in relief and smiled at Kevin.

"You okay, man?" The redhead asked.

"Am I okay?" Nat scoffed and popped his collar. "I'm fine." He looked at Edd and winked at him, making the sockhead blush a bit.

"That wasn't necessary, Nathan," Double D told him, his cheeks still a light shade of pink.

"Nothing I do is necessary, sweet cheeks, but I still do it anyway."

"Can't disagree with that," Kevin added.

The bell rung and students began slowly making their way to class. Some freshmen stood in awe of everyone, not sure where to even go.

"You know what," Kevin said. "I think I'll be nice for once and help these little kids." He smirked and walked over to two certain freshmen. "Hey, Sarah and Jimmy. Need help?" The two fourteen year olds from the cul-de-sac smiled at him and began showing him their schedule.

"That's very nice of Kevin to help out Sarah and Jimmy," Edd commented.

Nat scrunched up his nose, annoyed to feel the same ping of jealousy from earlier return. "Not really. He just did it because he knows them."

Double D blinked hard and faced Nat. "It's still a nice gesture."

The green-haired teen nodded and smirked at him. "Come on, Double dude." He casually put his arm around Edd's neck. "Let me walk you to class."


	2. Chapter two

A/N: So you like? Tee hee. I kind of watch Ed, Eddy N Eddy every other day and I do see how sassy freaking Double D is, and well, I don't see much of his sassy self in fanfics (including my own with WSL), so I'm trying to make him sassy in this fic, to be more realistic with how he in the show.

Nat belongs to c2ndy2c1d. :)

* * *

When third period came around, Edd walked into his cooking class and froze halfway. Scanning the room, he realized he didn't know anyone, except a certain redhead sitting alone. He smiled to himself and made his way over, taking the unoccupied seat next to Kevin.

"Salutations, Kevin!" Double D said in an almost too happy tone.

Kevin sat up in his seat and smiled at him. "Hey." He looked around the room, then back again at Edd. "I'm in a room filled with strangers."

"I have to agree. I'm not sure I've ever seen any of these fellow students here before."

"They're probably all freshmen." Kevin shrugged.

Double D thought about for a moment, then sighed. The teacher shut the door once the final bell rung.

"Good morning, students," she spoke with a serious voice. "Welcome back to school. I hope your first day has been going well so far." A few grunts were heard throughout the classroom, but she went on. "Today I will be discussing the various things we will be cooking this year to let you all know what you got yourselves into. Oh! And by the way, I'm Mrs. Finn." She smiled finally and most of the class laughed, except for Double D and Kevin, who didn't understand how that was even funny.

Mrs. Finn started talking about how there would be projects and that the first chapter is on baking. They would be making things from different types of cookies to breads and pies. The second chapter was on eggs and the students should expect to make omelets, popovers, and Dutch babies, and that the rest of the year would deal with "real kitchen food". Edd listened carefully, his hands resting together on top of the desk. Kevin rested his head on his hand and would hear a few words Mrs. Finn would say before drifting off into another daydream, which were mostly just memories of his summer. He smiled every now and so as he relived the moments in his head.

"Now that I'm done rambling," Mrs. Finn spoke. "I'll answer any questions you might have." She picked on a few students who raised their hands, but Kevin wasn't interested in listening.

He faced Edd and smirked. "You know anything about cooking?"

Double D looked at him and nodded, but didn't say a word from not wanting to be rude by speaking when someone else was.

"Cool. Like what?" Kevin asked.

"Err..." Double D tapped his fingers on the desk and sighed. "I know plenty," he whispered in a harsh tone.

Kevin could see how frustrated Edd was becoming, so he continued. "What kind of stuff do know how to cook?" He smirked.

"Well now," Mrs. Finn said, looking straight at Kevin and Double D. "It seems we already have a pair of talkers."

Edd gasped and looked down at his hands in shame. Kevin frowned to see the sockhead's reaction and spoke up, "What do you mean by pair? I was trying to get this guy to answer me and he just kept ignoring me to listen to you." He tried to sound offended.

There was a few giggles and Mrs. Finn smiled and shook her head.

"Since it is the first day," she said. "I'll let that slip for now, but just know, I do not tolerate talking in my classroom when another student is speaking."

Kevin nodded. "Yes ma'am. Understood." He gave her a salute and smiled.

Double D was staring at him, a look of amazement on his face. Kevin turned to face him and Double D found his jaw slowly dropping as he got a better look of Kevin's emerald green eyes. Even as kids, Edd always found those eyes to be of some sort of beauty. The redhead cleared his throat and Double D blinked hard, bringing himself back from his thoughts. He smiled nervously at Kevin.

"So... you cook?" The redhead grinned and Edd rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Come on, you ladies!" Coach Boyce yelled out, clapping his hands loudly. "Just thirty more seconds of warm up and we can get onto real practice! Come on!"

It was after school and there being football practice, Kevin and Nathan, along with the other football players, ran from one side of the field to the other as part of their warm up. Some of the guys had to stop to catch their breath, which would get them a lecture from the coach, and the ones who had to stop to throw up were ordered to quickly get some water and return for more running.

"This... isn't... cool," Nat said through his heavy, tired breathing.

"Yeah... it... fucking... sucks," Kevin panted.

"These last... thirty seconds... shouldn't... take... this long," their teammate, Charlie, added.

The three of them ran at a same pace together ahead of everyone else. Finally, Coach Boyce blew his whistle and they all stopped, most of them collapsing to the floor, Nat being one of them. He rolled over onto his back and tried catching his breath.

"Worst half hour ever," he complained. "I feel like I'm done for the day and we still have actual practice to do." The green-haired teen groaned and covered his face with his arms from the sun.

Kevin laughed at him and shook his head. "Come on, man. Don't be weak." He leaned down and grabbed one of Nat's arms and yanked him up. Nat practically flew into Kevin, but regained his balance in time.

"Anyways," Kevin said. "I realized what you meant by Double D being useful." He started walking towards the benches while Nat stood behind for a moment, slightly taken aback by the mention of Edd, but he sighed and went after Kevin.

"Yeah?" He asked.

Kevin grabbed two water bottles and handed one to Nat. He nodded and said, "Yeah. He's good at cooking and since I hate cooking, I figured he and I can be partners and-"

"What?" Nat blurted. "You can't just let the dude do all the work."

"Not _all_ the work, Nat, but he can be useful when I have no idea what I'm doing." Kevin turned his back to the green-haired teen and Nat furrowed his eyebrows at him.

"Cooking class has to be one of the easiest classes, Kev," Nat said. "You don't even need to use a smart person for it."

"Yeah, but the teacher also mentioned something about projects, and Edd can just be my partner with that and we'll both get good grades and we win. No big deal." Kevin raised the bottle to his mouth, but stopped and squinted his eyes at Nat. "Why do you care so much about what I do with Double D?"

Nat shrugged. "I don't know." He didn't want his friend to be any more suspicious, so he smiled and said, "Let's get to work." before jogging back over to the center of the football field.

Kevin just followed him with his eyes and chuckled. "Whatever you say, man."

* * *

After practice was over, the team decided to get ice cream, but Nat decided he would rather be somewhere else. His teammates were annoyed that he didn't join, but he didn't care. He had someone in mind he wanted to see. After knowing a few times on the door, Edd opened it and seemed confused to see Nat.

"Hey Double dude," the green-haired teen greeted with his signature grin.

"Why, hello Nathan," Double D said. "What brings you here?"

"Thought we'd chill and do homework."

"Chill?" Edd thought about the word for a second before saying, "You find doing homework an entertaining activity?" His voice revealed excitement as if proud that he knew someone else who felt the same way he did about homework.

"Nah, man, not really," Nat admitted, bring a frown to Edd's face, "But you know, I thought I'd come over and spend some time with my favorite little dude." Without being invited in, he stepped forward, shoving Double D out of the way a bit on his way in,

"Little," Double D repeated, a scowl on his face. He closed the door and followed Nat to the couch. He watched his friend comfortably take his seat and he placed his hand on his hip.

"Wipe that look off your face and come join me," Nat demanded. He patted the spot next to him, grinning ear to ear as he did so. He knew he was fooling Edd into thinking nothing was bothering him, but the butterflies began fluttering out of control inside his stomach once the sockhead sat down. Pretty close to him, too. Nat stiffened a bit.

"Are you alright?" Double D asked.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine." Nat scratched the back of his head and turned his attention away from Edd. He looked down at the textbook in his lap and decided to open it up. "I'm going to be completely honest here," he dared to look Edd in the eyes again, "I hate that some classes give out homework the first freaking day. Don't they know we're still stupid from not learning shit for three months?" Nat chuckled at his own remark.

"Language, Nathan," Double D scolded him. "I honestly find the idea to be great, to get us back into the motion, because according to you, we shut off our intelligence during a break."

Nat tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Edd. "Don't be a smart a-" he paused for moment, then said, "mouth. Don't be a smart mouth."

"I believe the term 'smart aleck' would have sounded more appropriate."

"Smart mouth does sound appropriate. More appropriate than smart ass because..." Nat thought about it for a second and then grinned. "I would say butts can't be smart, but then I would be lying."

Double D blinked, staring at the other in disarray. He took in Nat's words, digesting them before finally bringing his hand up to his mouth and giggling. "Nathan, you certainly are a humorous one."

"Thanks," Nat said and they fell into silence. The freckled, green-haired teen put the textbook aside and rubbed his own thighs, looking anywhere but at Edd, trying to think of something to say. Anything. _Aw, come on, Goldberg. Get your shit together. _Nat sighed and asked, "Remember that one time during one of our tutoring sessions when I sat down and the couch made that loud, fart noise?"

Edd's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he nodded.

"Yeah, well," Nat went on, "That wasn't the couch."

"N-Nathan!"

Nat burst into a loud laughter. Double D couldn't help but join in on it.

"You could have told me the truth and excused yourself," Edd said. "There wouldn't have been any harm in that."

"Oh, come on, sweet cheeks." Nat laid back into the couch and looked at Edd. "I wasn't going to admit to someone attractive that I farted." He grinned and winked at him.

"Oh my..." Double D looked away from him. "Could we, perhaps, change the subject now?"

"Fine." Nathan continued to smile at the sockhead, watching him lay out his binder and textbooks on the coffee table. He tilted his head a bit to get a better angle. "So how about we talk about the day we met."

Double D stopped what he was doing and faced the freckled teen. "Oh, you want to discuss how you took a seat next to me, smiled at me with that grin of yours- yes that one right there!" He pointed at Nat's face. "And then violated my personal space."

"I pinched your cheeks," Nat said with a shrug. "I thought me calling you 'sweet cheeks' was enough of a warning for you to know what I was about to do."

"How is that a warning? I thought you were merely attempting to aggravate me."

"Did I?" Nat's eyes widened as he leaned closer to Edd.

"N-No... Nathan! Are you trying to aggravate me now?!"

Nat laughed and backed away. "It's so fun messing with you, dude."

"For you, perhaps." Edd rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, looking in another direction again.

Nat had learn from the start to never feel offended by Edd's attitude. That's just how he was, and Nat admired the sass master that was Edd. The green-haired took in a deep breath through his nose, Edd's sweet scent of freshly washed laundry and vanilla coming with it, making him sigh. Oh the unique being that was Double D. Nat smiled a little, but then the realization that Edd may never return his feelings hit him. He furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed his forehead with two of his fingers. Edd was most likely straight, and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't someone like Nat. Did they have anything in common? Nat thought about it for a moment and couldn't think of one single thing and he suddenly found himself feeling lucky they were even friends.

Nat was frequently described as this loud mouth, outspoken, cocky person, but he always meant well. And Edd could see that. He had to. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to stand the freckled teen's company. Nat shook his head and ran his fingers through his spiky hair. He was getting himself worked up over a simple crush, but he couldn't help himself. With a roll of his eyes, he stood up and looked at Double D.

"Hey man, I think I should go," he said.

"Already?" Double D asked, sounding almost disappointed. "You just got here."

"Yeah, but-" Nat puckered up his lips as he thought about what to say, "I'm probably just bugging you. I didn't even let you know I was coming and-""Nonsense!" Edd got up to stand. "I don't mind."

Nat bit down slightly on his lower lip and said, "It's cool, dude. I'm out." He started gathering his things.

"But I was hoping you would stay for dinner." This caused Nathan to stop moving. Yes, Edd really had said that. He hoped Nat would stay for dinner, therefore, he _wanted _the green-haired teen to stay. The fluttering feeling returned to Nat's stomach. He slowly gazed up at Double D and grinned.

Double D preheated the oven to 425 degrees as Nat took out the left over rotisserie chicken from the refrigerator. Edd placed the recipe on the counter for both of them to see and they started taking out the ingredients, though Nat wasn't much help since he had no idea where Edd's parents kept anything. Cooking wasn't something the freckled teen usually did. He liked having things made for him, but yet, here he was with his crush, helping him make dinner. What would everyone say? The thought made him chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Double D asked as he began to shred the chicken.

Nat picked up the asparagus and walked over to the sink to wash it before cutting it into pieces. He shrugged and smiled at Edd. "Nothing."

Double D raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes.

"What?" Nat asked. "Don't believe me?" But Edd just sighed and went back to focusing on the recipe.

After they had everything prepared, Nat watched with amusement on his face as Edd finished off the plate of chicken and asparagus crepes by sprinkling some parmesan on top. The green-haired teen leaned forward and licked his lips. Double D took notice and giggled at the sight of his drooling friend. He moved the plate away and shook his head.

"Please Nathan," he said, "This food is just fine without your saliva all over it."

"Whatever man. Just give me some already."

Double D served both Nat and himself. They walked over to the dining table and sat down across from each other.

"I've never had this before," Nat said, cutting a piece of the crepe with his fork and lifting up to his mouth, "So it better be good." He stuffed the piece into his mouth and chewed slowly. Edd watched with a wide smile on his face. Nat swallowed and opened his mouth wide. "Holy shit, dude! This is delicious!" He quickly took another bite and hummed in enjoyment of the food in his mouth.

Nat's reaction made Double D smile at himself. They ate in mostly silence. The only noise was Nat making loud, pleasure noises as he ate. The freckled teen looked down at his plate and realized he was almost done. He swallowed the piece he had in his mouth and thought back to what Kevin said about Edd being useful in cooking class and knew that yes indeed, the sockhead would be of great use. And because of that, he decided to himself that he wouldn't tell Kevin of Edd's cooking.

They put their plates in the sink once they finished. Double D hesitated for a moment until he gave into temptation and washed the plates. Nat sauntered into the living room to retrieve his things. Edd joined him after the dishes were washed.

"Well dude," Nat started. "This time I am leaving." He looked over at Edd.

"Yes. Allow me to walk you out."

Nat followed Edd to the front door and smiled when Double D opened the door for him. He stepped onto the front step and turned around to face the other.

"Can you do me a favor?" He asked.

Double D blinked and tilted his head, but nodded slowly.

"Promise me you won't let anyone use that big brain of yours to their own advantage, alright?" Nat grinned at him even though he felt a little guilty inside for thinking about Kevin while asking this. The redhead was the reason the favor was even brought up.

Edd had a look of confusion as he stared up at the tall teen in front of him, but he smirked proudly and said, "I can take care of myself, Nathan. I don't have to make you any promises." A slight chuckle escaped him.

Nathan rolled his eyes and said, "Edd, come _on_. Just promise me!" He held his hands out in front of him, a begging expression on his face with a hint of humor and Edd couldn't help but laugh even more.

"Very well then," the sockhead said. "I promise."

The corners of Nat's lips twitched up into a lopsided grin. Silence filled the air once again as they just stood there, staring anywhere but at each other. Nat scratched the side of his head and forced himself to look at Edd. The small teen was fiddling with his fingers. Nat found himself distracted with the action until Double D glanced up and stopped.

"So I'll see you around, man," Nat said, finally breaking the awkward barrier.

Edd just nodded, but Nat didn't just want to leave like that. He stepped closer to the other and wrapped his arms gently around him. The sockhead gasped at first, but he slowly hugged his friend back and smiled.

"Okay," Nat said, letting go of Edd. "For reals leaving now. Later!" He waved at Double D as he headed towards his car.

"Have a nice night, Nat!" Edd waved back.

Nat paused in his tracks a moment, his eyes widening. He looked over his shoulder but Double D was already gone. His cheesy grin spread across his face and he continued to walk over to his truck.

"The dude actually called me 'Nat' for once," he said in a giddy tone.

Edd sat back down on the couch and smiled as he remembered how appalled he was of Nathan the day he met him. It was the way the green-haired teen was very obnoxious and especially, very flirtatious towards practically everyone. He was just another one of those teenagers that Edd never wanted to find himself socializing with, but that was destroyed when the freckled teen decided to take a seat next to him. Edd turned away in hopes that Nat wouldn't say anything to him, but of course he did, calling him 'sweet cheeks' and then reaching over to pinch them. Edd had swatted the other's hand away and scowled, but that didn't stop Nathan from doing it again. After a fourth time, Double D sighed in defeat and that made Nat finally stop.

"You got an A in here, right?" The teen had asked.

"Y-yes," Edd hesitated his answer.

"Hmm, then what do you say about helping me out with this algebra two stuff? I don't understand any of it!"

Edd was not able to say no. He loved helping students out, so he agreed, and the two started meeting up in the library at lunch or after school, and eventually, they became friendly enough to start going over to each other's houses for the tutoring sessions. Even after Nat really did come to understand algebra two, they still hung out every now and so to do homework for the class. It was spending all that time with Nathan that Double D found his colorful personality to be quite amusing and he had mentally scolded himself for ever thinking wrong of him.

Edd reached over and grabbed his binder off the coffee table. He placed it on his lap and opened it up to finish his homework. Kevin arrived at his home just as Nat pulled out of the Double D's driveway.

"What the hell..." The redhead stared in the direction his best friend drove off into. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused as to what he just saw. Nat ditched them to hang out with the dork. But... why... ?

* * *

A/N: If you haven't yet, I recommend trying chicken and asparagus crepes. Delicious. :)


	3. Chapter three

A/N: I feel like I made this chapter out to be a whole lot of Natedd cuteness because I was listening to my Natedd playlist, but it really isn't all about them since I've had a lot of interactions between them already in the last two chapters.

That doesn't mean there's no Natedd at all. I did include what I think to be a cute moment, but you have to read on to find it. I did have to have a reason behind listening to my playlist of them while writing this chapter, right? ;)

Nat belongs to the amazing Acid.

Answers to reviews:

Abby Sansone - MORE MORE MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Also is this the begging on how Kevin started to date Edd?

- No, it isn't. This story isn't all connected to Words Speak Loud. It's completely different. :)

* * *

The first week of school went by quickly. Hardly anyone did anything in their classes. It was all smooth sailing and if there was any homework, it would be simple. Cooking class was by the far the easiest and most boring class for Kevin during that first week. They didn't do a thing but talk about different types of food and where everything was located in the classroom. Kevin would leave the class every day hungry, sleepy, and a little frustrated he needed to deal with another class before he could go to lunch and satisfy his stomach. But now that week was over.

The second week of school was still a breeze for the most part. They did begin getting more homework and teachers started teaching the actual lessons, but there were no tests. For cooking class, Mrs. Finn handed out a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It wasn't a hard thing to bake, therefore, they could start the year off with something that didn't require much thinking. She told the students that if they followed the directions carefully, everything would go fine.

"I'm trusting you guys," she said, "Don't make me regret it." And with a smile, she returned to her desk and sat down.

Students rose from their seats and bent down to grab the ingredients from the cabinets underneath their counters. Kevin yawned and looked over at Edd who was doing the same as everyone else. He picked up the paper with the recipe and read off each item for Edd. Double D took out the flour, baking soda, salt, shortening, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and chocolate chips before getting back up. He looked at the paper.

"Now we just need an egg," he said.

Kevin nodded. "Alright, cool. I'll get it." The redhead looked around. The three refrigerators were in the back of the classroom. He saw other students retrieving eggs from them and he made his over.

Everyone was working quickly. He watched a few pairs stir in the ingredients before grabbing the egg and returning to his counter.

"You couldn't have taken any longer than you did," Edd commented as he took the egg from Kevin.

"Shut up, dork. What do you want me to do now?"

Double D blinked and looked up at the jock. "You could start by preheating our oven to 350." He nodded his head towards the stove next to their counter and Kevin obliged.

He grabbed the egg and held it up for the blue-eyed teen to see. "And this?"

"Crack it open," Double D answered with a smile.

Kevin hesitated for a moment. Every time he had tried cracking an egg, it ended up in an unnecessary mess. "Okay." He sighed and smashed the egg against the side of the counter. The albumin slipped right through his fingers. Groaning, he walked over to the trash can and tossed in the shells of his failed attempt before washing his hands. Edd tried repressing the giggle, but it came out anyway. Kevin snarled at him.

"It's not funny," he told the sockhead.

"My apologies, Kevin. Could you please get another egg and I'll teach you how to properly crack it?"

"Whatever." Kevin went back over to the silver refrigerator and grabbed another egg. He handed it over to Double D and stood aside to watch the demonstration. Edd took the egg gently in his hand, his thumb and forefinger holding the end of the egg while his other three fingers held the other end. He tapped the egg against the counter, making a small crack, and held it over the mixing bowl. Kevin gaped as he watch the egg perfectly fall into the bowl as Double D pulled apart the shell. He turned his head to see the surprised redhead.

_Is he really that astonished by an egg? _Edd wondered, staring bewilderedly at the jock. Kevin chuckled and faced him.

"That was kinda cool," he said.

"Y-yes... indeed it was, I suppose."

Kevin watched as Edd mixed in the rest of the ingredients, stirring in a casual way. The sockhead seemed comfortable in the position as if it had been doing it for years and Kevin figured he probably had been baking and cooking for himself his whole life. The chocolate chips were left. The green-eyed teen grabbed the bag and poured it into the mix as Edd continued stirring.

They placed the drops of dough onto a cookie sheet and Kevin put it into the oven. He set the timer for twenty minutes and sighed in relief.

"I hate baking," he mumbled before taking his seat next to Edd.

"I can't understand why," Double D said. "It's quite a relaxing task."

"Relaxing?" Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Dude..." He shook his head.

"I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Of course you don't."

"And what is that supposed to be mean?" Edd crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows at Kevin.

Kevin looked over at the blue-eyed teen who was now scrunching up his nose in anger and he smiled slightly.

"You find this amusing?" Double D asked, wailing his hands in front of Kevin's face.

Kevin leaned away from him a little and laughed. "Yeah, I do, actually."

"And why is that?"

The redhead thought about it. He looked up at the ceiling and rubbed his chin. Edd sighed roughly and narrowed his eyes.

Kevin smiled and made eye contact again. "How is seeing someone with a baby face being angry not funny?"

The sockhead gasped.

"Don't act surprised," Kevin told him.

"I do not look like a child!" Edd defended himself.

"Yeah, but you don't like someone who's almost seventeen, either."

Double D rolled his eyes. "It is just like you to criticize me, Kevin."

"I'm not criticizing you at all, Edd. Jeez, don't take everything up the ass." Kevin smirked a little.

"I do not," Edd softly replied.

"Sure you don't, double dork."

"Kevin! I don't!"

Kevin chuckled and grinned at Edd. Double D was wearing an expression of failure and the redhead abruptly felt guilty for teasing him.

"Don't give me that look," he said to Edd.

"What look, exactly?" Double D tilted his head and Kevin felt his heart titillate in his chest. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably and looked in another direction.

"The one you're making," the redhead said in an almost too quiet tone.

"Pardon?" Edd asked, leaning in closer to hear better. Kevin turned his head and opened his mouth, ready to yell at the sockhead to back off, but ocean blue eyes sparkled at him and he found himself just staring into them, mouth wide open and eyebrows furrowed.

"I expect everyone's cookies to be in the oven by now," Mrs. Finn announced, causing Kevin to blink and finally look away from Edd.

Double D felt heat rushing up to his cheeks and he attempted to cover the red that was surely forming on their surface by placing his hands on them. What just happened? Did he and Kevin have a moment of some sort? How did that even happen? One second they were bickering and the next they were silent, just staring at each other.

When the timer went off, Kevin slipped on the oven mitts and grabbed the tray of freshly baked cookies out of the oven and placed it on the cooling rack. The cookies were a light golden brown and the chocolate chip were melted in their place. Kevin's stomach growled and he rubbed it.

"We have to wait a few minutes before we eat them," Edd told him.

"Why?" Kevin groaned.

"They're too hot, Kevin. You'll burn your tongue."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." The redhead grinned as he grabbed one of them and took a huge bite out of it. Edd's eyes widened, waiting for the reaction and it only took a few seconds for him to see it. Kevin dropped the cookie in his hand and fanned his mouth. He forced himself to swallow the piece in his mouth. "What the hell, Edd? Why didn't you tell me it was hot?"

Edd frowned and sighed. "My apologies, Kevin. I should have warned you..."

The redhead stuck out his tongue, allowing air to cool it off. Double D covered his mouth as he giggled. Kevin glared at him.

"I did warn you, Kevin," Edd told him and laughed some more.

The jock closed his mouth and watched as the smaller teen in front of him leaning against the counter, laughing at him. He shrugged and chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

"Ha-ha, Edd," he said. "It wasn't _that _funny."

Double D sighed and nodded. "If you would have seen the look on your face-" He began giggling again. This time, Kevin chuckled a little more before erupting into laughter. He was actually laughing with the dork from the cul-de-sac and he liked it. Then again, Kevin was always on somewhat good terms with Edd. He never gave the redhead any problems. It was Eddy that would irritate him and he only labeled Double D as a 'dork' because he was best friends with the schemer. He wasn't much of a dork, though. Sure he was smart and his passion for learning made him seem dull, but he was very friendly and entertaining.

"I can tell having you as a partner in this class is going to be cool," Kevin bluntly said.

Edd raised his eyebrows. "How so?"

The redhead thought carefully about his answer and smiled, turning his head to face the sockhead. "Because you're not so bad after all."

* * *

Football practice was after school as usual. They had to be prepared for the first game that was only two weeks away even if that did mean running around in 90 degree weather for two hours. It would all be worth it if they won in the end. The guys were running their laps, each of them slowly breaking down and feeling sick. Nat was hanging in there, running alongside Kevin. He took notice of how the redhead didn't seem to be in any sort of pain. He was smiling like it was merely a walk in the park.

"What... are... you... thinking... about?" Nat asked through his tired breath as they ran.

"Nothing," Kevin causally shrugged. "Why... do you... ask?"

"We're running... and... it's freaking hot... and... you're smiling... That's not normal."

They ran for the next three minutes and Coach Boyce blew his whistle.

"Quick break, ladies!" He shouted.

Nat and Kevin made their way to the benches and grabbed water bottles from the cooler. The green-haired teen wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and sighed in relief that the running was over. The real practice wasn't hard at all compared to the warm ups. He looked at Kevin who still wore a content expression on his face.

"Alright, Kev," he said, "Something or _someone _is on your mind and I gotta know. Now."

Kevin rolled his eyes and took a swig of his water. Nat put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot.

The redhead raised an eyebrow at him. "Dude, you remind me of my mom when you do that."

"Mmm, your mom." Nat grinned.

Kevin flashed his best friend a disturbed look in which Nathan laughed at. Some of their teammates returned to the field, leaving the two almost alone.

"Now that we aren't surrounded by so many people," Nat said, "Tell me."

"Why do you think I'm thinking about someone?"

"You have that look in your eyes." The freckled teen pointed his finger at Kevin's face.

Kevin scowled at him and swatted his finger away. "Yeah, maybe there is someone on my mind, but that's none of your business." He took a small sip from his water bottle and set it down.

"None of my business? I'm your best friend!" Nat gaped at the redhead as he watched him walk passed him and start making his way to the others. He immediately followed. "This ain't cool, man. We tell each other every-" Nat's amber eyes widened.

Kevin turned around. "We tell each other every what?"

"Thing. We tell each other everything." Nathan grinned nervously.

The redhead smirked and said, "I bet there are things you keep from me, too."

Nat's mind suddenly went to Double D. All Kevin knew was that he and the sockhead were close, but he didn't know just how Edd meant to Nat. And he took too long thinking about that, because Kevin blurted out, "Ah-ha! I knew it." The redhead laughed and shook his head. "So don't go getting mad at me, Goldberg."

Kevin turned away from his friend and smiled softly, remembering those glistening blue eyes he had gotten lost in. His stomach started feeling fuzzy and he swallowed hard. He glanced at Nathan over his shoulder and said, "I can't tell you until I know I'm sure about this."

* * *

Edd was practically dragged over to Ed's house for a monster movie night. He was not in the mood to sit around in Ed's messy bedroom, but Eddy gave him no choice.

"It's a school night!" Double D protested. "We should be finishing our homework and getting our rest."

"Come on, Sockhead!" Eddy groaned. "You already did your homework."

"But I know you and Ed haven't!"

"Aw, Double D!" Ed whined. "I'll finish it later. I wanna watch movies right now!" He picked up the lanky teen and carried him the rest of the way down the stairs and into his bedroom. Double D struggled to free himself, but his friend was much too strong for him.

"Very well, then," Double D said, "But just this once!"

"Yeah, yeah," Eddy mumbled as he made his way to the sofa in front of Ed's tv. Ed inserted in his favorite monster movie and squeezed in next to Eddy.

"Double D! You can sit here." Ed patted his lap.

Eddy laughed and wiggled his eyebrows at the sockhead. Double D sighed and walked over, sitting down on the arm rester. Ed turned on the tv and the movie began. The three sat in silence for the first five minutes where they just displayed the names of the actors and everyone who worked on the movie, but after that was over, Ed began saying every line with the characters. Eddy rolled his eyes and tried to ignore him, but the tall teen had an extremely audible voice.

Edd wasn't paying attention to the movie or his best friends. He sat there in a daze, his chin resting on his hand. The way Kevin was with him in class, his "You're not so bad after all", what did that even mean? Surely he had thought Double D to be this loser who didn't find anything funny and only paid attention to all things that had to with school. But that didn't sound right. Kevin knew Edd enough to know he had a sense of humor and had other interests besides doing well in school. Oh, why did he care?

Because he hadn't been able to pry his mind off the redhead since third period. The way they so easily laughed with each other, like it was a natural thing for them to do together. Edd sighed. He could admit he found the jock to be attractive. He had admitted this during the summer before sophomore year when all the cul-de-sac kids were at the beach and Kevin was wearing nothing but red swim trunks, even his baseball cap was nowhere to be seen. Edd was not able to stop staring at the redhead's toned body and when Kevin walked over to talk to him, Edd found himself stuttering and blushing at the closeness.

_But do I have a crush on him? _He wondered. The answer wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either. He really didn't know. He looked at the walls as if hoping they could answer the question for him, but nothing. His phone buzzed in his pocket, making Ed scream and jump off the sofa.

"Ed!" Eddy shouted angrily. "What the hell?"

"There's a monster in Double D's pants!" Ed stared horrifyingly at Double D.

"Goodness gracious, Ed," the sockhead said, "It's only my phone." He held up the device to show Ed and Ed sighed in relief before returning to his spot.

Double D looked at his cell phone in his hands and saw that he had one new message from Nat. He held his breath as his heart's beat sped up. With a sort of shaky hand, he opens up the text that reads: Hey Double dude! What's up?

Edd smiled and replied: Forced against my own will to have a monster movie marathon with Ed and Eddy.

Nat laughed when he read the message and shook his head. Of course Edd was going to complain about that.

Nathan: Not surprised. Ed's favorite right?

Edd: Yes.

Nathan: Are you scared?

Edd: Not at all. I have seen most of these movies plenty of times already.

Nathan: Bummer, because if you would have said yes, I would have gone over there right now to comfort you.

Edd blinked twice and read over the message again. Butterflies began to dance in his stomach and his heart almost felt as if it were shivering with excitement. He replied: Comfort me? Nathan, I highly doubt that would ever be necessary.

He gulped. _What is wrong with me right now? _

Nathan: Why not? It's what good friends do, right?

The reply from Nat made Edd smile.

Edd: Yes, it is.

Nathan: And I am your favorite person in the world, right?

The question caught Edd off guard. It had nothing to do with what they were discussing, but Double D giggled after understanding. Nat was just being his good ole cocky self. Edd felt his cheeks warming up as he smiled wide, replying: Yes, Nathan. You most definitely are.


	4. Chapter four

A/N: Judging by the reviews, a lot of you want Nat and Edd to run off into the sunset together, tee hee. I don't have the whole story planned out yet. I know what's going to happen in the next three chapters, but I'm still contemplating on the ending, so ANYTHING can happen.

Nat belongs to Acid :)

* * *

"Man, please tell me you're at least out of bed," Nat said to Kevin through the phone. He was sitting in his car, waiting for the redhead. Kevin had asked for a ride to school because he wanted to speak to Nat about something.

"Yes!" Kevin shouted. "I'm up and I'm almost done. Just wait a little longer."

The freckled teen groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fine." He hung up and sat back in his seat, turning off the car. "I can't believe I got up extra early so I could get here on time and dude's not even ready yet." Nat shook his head and looked out the window. His bright amber eyes widened at the sight of a certain sockhead walking out of his house.

Edd took his time locking the front door. Nat rolled down his window and called out, "Hey Double cutie!"

Double D looked over his shoulder and smiled softly, waving at his friend.

"Need a ride?" The green-haired teen asked.

"I was going to get a ride with Eddy-"

"Get in!" Nat nodded towards the backseat.

Kevin got out of his house at this time and jogged over to the grey car. He put his hand on the door handle but froze momentarily when he noticed Double D coming towards them. The redhead opened the door and whispered to Nat, "Dude, what's he doing here?"

"I offered him a ride." Nat grinned.

"Good morning, Kevin," Edd brightly greeted.

Kevin swallowed hard and glanced back up. "Oh... yeah, morning." He quickly got inside the car and shut the door.

Double D made himself comfortable in the backseat. Kevin could feel his heart started to race in his chest. He sighed and shook his head slightly. _Guess I won't be telling Nat, _he thought. And maybe that was okay. Everything felt so sudden. Before being partners in cooking class, Edd wasn't anything special and now Kevin had a hard time remaining calm around him. Oh, but he couldn't deny that he always did find Double D to be sort of... cute. But he wasn't gay. He was sure he wasn't. He had been with plenty of girls. He was attractive to them, but he was also attracted to Edd. Okay, so maybe he was bisexual like Nathan. That made more sense.

Kevin watched the sockhead in the backseat from his peripheral vision. Double D was just sitting still, gently tapping his fingers on his lap as he looked out the window. Nat would occasionally glance at him from the rear view mirror. Edd felt himself being watched and turned to see. Kevin and Nat immediately straightened themselves up and kept their eyes on the road the rest of the silent way to school.

Nathan parked his car in the parking lot and looked over at Kevin. "What's up with you?" He asked the redhead in a hush tone.

Kevin waited for Edd to step out before saying, "I would have told you, but you decided to bring company." He got out of the car and groaned. Nat did the same.

Double D stared up at the building and sadly sighed. "It's quite a shame how far apart my first class is from Ed and Eddy's."

Simultaneously, Nat and Kevin said, "Oh, well I'll walk you!" The redhead shot his best friend a glare, but Nathan ignored him, oblivious to the situation.

Edd blinked twice and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, why I didn't mean I wanted someone to walk with. I was merely-"

"Don't worry about it, man," Kevin said, "It's no problem walking you." He smirked at the lanky teen.

"That's very kind of you, Kevin." Edd shyly smiled as his cheeks turned a rosy color.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Nat chimed in, raising a finger up. "I should walk him since he's _my _friend." He narrowed his eyes at Kevin.

The redhead scoffed. "Are you saying he's not my friend?" He darted his eyes over to Edd and stared at him questioningly as if asking for backup, but Double D didn't know what to say. He wasn't so sure what his and Kevin's relationship was even classified as. Were they friends? He had assumed the redhead saw him as just his cooking partner. Kevin could probably read the expression on Double D's face because he roughly sighed and said, "We're friends, Edd. Of course we are."

"O-oh," Edd stuttered. "Well, of course." He smiled, feeling a rush run through him.

_Not cool, _Nat scowled and crossed his arms as he stared at the two. He was beginning to think Kevin knew about his crush on the sockhead and was trying to purposely bug him. The bell rung and Edd gasped.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," he said, "I should be going now-"

"I'm coming with you," Nat and Kevin said in unison. They exchanged quick angry looks before turning to smile at Double D.

Edd bit down on his lower lip and tried smiling back. The three of them started up the front steps. Nat stopped for a second to beep his alarm and continued walking, his arm brushing against Edd's. Double D hugged his textbook tightly and didn't make eye contact with either one of them. His whole face was a light shade of pink. He was sandwiched between two boys who he found himself daydreaming about ever so often on his free time. On the right of him was the redhead; the one who he had just discovered he had feelings for and on his left was Nathan, who also made his stomach feel funny at times.

It was a very uncomfortable walk. He tried not to make his state of mind obvious. These two were his friends. He didn't want them knowing they made him feel a certain way. They would probably not want to speak with him anymore if they did. Double D stopped in front his classroom and turned to face the two football players.

"T-thank you," he practically whispered.

Nat grinned and nodded while Kevin just smirked.

"Later, Double D," The redhead said as he started to walk away.

"I'll see you around, man." Nat stepped closer to the small teen and smiled slightly. Edd's heart tingled and clutched his textbook tighter.

"Ye-" He was cut off by being suddenly embraced by the freckled teen. The corners of Double D's lips curved up.

Kevin glanced over his shoulder and furrowed his eyebrows when he saw them. _I have to tell Nat before this jealousy gets the better of me_. He waited for Nat, watching as the two smile at each other once more before the green-haired teen left and joined Kevin by his side. Nat winked at him. Kevin snickered and rolled his eyes. The jealousy he felt towards Nat and Edd's friendship still wasn't enough to make him mad at his best friend.

* * *

When lunch time rolled around, Nathan walked with a few of his fellow football teammates to the cafeteria. They were discussing girls they wanted to take to the team captain's party on Saturday, but Nat had his mind occupied.

"Should I take Diana?" Charlie asked, running his hands through his long dirty blonde hair. "I'm not that sure. She doesn't even know Jack."

"Who cares whether she knows Jack or not," a tall, brunette teen, Stephen, said. "Half the people who are going don't personally know him."

Charlie shrugged. "I guess." He looked over at the freckled teen. "What do you think, Goldberg? Uh... Goldberg?" The blonde snapped his fingers in front of Nat's face and Nat blinked hard.

"Yeah sounds good, dude," he absentmindedly answered.

Charlie sighed in annoyance and Stephen laughed.

"Forget I asked, Nat," Charlie said, shaking his head.

Nathan ignored the comment and looked over to see Kevin walking ahead of them. He waved a quick goodbye to the guys and jogged up to join the redhead.

"Hey, Kev." He greeted him with a half smile.

Kevin nodded at him. "What's up, bro?"

"I wanted to ask you the same."

"What do you mean?" Kevin stopped walking and raised a questioningly eyebrow at his friend.

"You, earlier... with Double dude."

The green-eyed teen shrugged and said, "I've been getting to know him in class more and well, I don't know. I'm just trying to be nice, I guess." When Nat didn't say anything, Kevin went on, "You're the one who told me to give him a chance. Remember?"

_Shit, I did say that,_ Nathan mentally slapped himself. He nodded. "Yeah, I know-"

"So why are you getting weird with me? Is it that you want Edd all to yourself?"

Nat's eyes widened. "I don't like him like that, Kev."

Kevin chuckled. "I didn't mean that. I meant, does it make you mad that I'm also friends with him because you want a friend that's only yours and not mine?"

Nat wanted to say yes, but he couldn't get the word out. It wasn't right to tell someone they weren't allowed to be friends with someone just because of jealousy, but Nat was very tempted. He shook his head slowly.

Kevin smirked. "Alright. Then we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool." The green-haired teen grinned.

"Awesome. I'll meet you at the table." Kevin patted Nat on the shoulder before walking off to get into the lunch line, knowing Nat wasn't going to settle for lunch food.

Jealousy wasn't the freckled guy's thing. He was always confident in getting what he wanted and if he didn't get it, it wouldn't affect him for long. Double D was, of course, different from past wants. But he didn't know what he was getting worked up about. Edd and Kevin were _just _friends and they would always be _just _friends.

"Greetings, Nathan."

Nat spun around at the sound of his name and grinned to see the sockhead standing there. "Oh, hey blue eyes."

Double D smirked and looked away shyly, but he shook away the feeling pulsing through his heart and faced the green-haired teen again. "Why aren't you with Kevin?"

Nathan's smile fell. Edd didn't even care for his presence. He cared more about Kevin. "He's... getting lunch. I'm waiting for him. Actually, I was just about to go to the table to wait... so I'll-" Nat sighed and turned away. "Later, dude." He mumbled, but before he could completely turn away, Edd gently grabbed his wrist.

"May I ask you something first?"

"Sure, man," Nat said, not very interested.

"I was wondering if you'd like to... what is the word you use?" Edd tapped his chin as he thought about it. "_Chill_?"

The freckled teen grinned at the request. "You just said 'chill', so I _have_ to say yes."

Double D's face brightened as he smiled wide, revealing the gap between his teeth. "Excellent! We can meet at my home on Saturday. Or yours if you prefer!"

"Saturday?" Nat scratched the back of his head. "I kind of already have plans..."

"A reschedule then?"

Nathan chewed on his lower lip and looked around. He didn't want to reschedule. He wanted to spend some time alone with the sockhead. So he shook his head and said, "There's a party at Jack's place. You can come as my guest if you want."

Edd scrunched up his nose in disgust. "A party? Nathan, parties and myself do not mix well."

Nathan rolled his eyes and laughed. "Aw, come on, Double dude. It'll be fun. Just give it a try. Come _on_." He pouted.

Edd stared at the freckled teen's soft lips that puckered out in sadness and sighed. "I suppose I could."

Nat grinned in satisfaction. "I'll pick you up at eight."

* * *

Partying on a Saturday night was not on Edd's original agenda. Eight PM was his planned time to catch up on reading, but instead, he was standing in front of his bathroom mirror. He was looking over his outfit since Nathan had texted him earlier during the day to tell him to make sure he dressed "party appropriate". Double D scowled. Nothing was wrong with the way he dressed. He crossed his arms and walked out of the bathroom. His parents weren't home yet. They weren't expected until eleven or midnight and Edd had a feeling he would be home by then, but he still decided to write them a note. Just in case.

A car honk startled him as he placed the sticky note on the refrigerator. Nathan had arrived. Double D looked down at his outfit of dark blue skinny jeans, white t-shirt and a grey cardigan. He also wore black and white converse and his beanie, of course. He thought it was appropriate enough and with a smile, he exited his house and locked the front door. Nat was replying to a text from Kevin when the sockhead got into the passenger's seat. He put his phone away and flashed his amber eyes at Edd.

"Is my clothing suitable for tonight?" Double D asked him.

Nat took a real look at Double D's outfit and smirked. They were dressed completely different. He wore skinny jeans as well, but he had on his red and white varsity jacket.

"You look cool," Nat said, nodding in approval despite wanting to tear off the cardigan right off of Edd's skinny arms, but he didn't want to put the sockhead down about his style. Double D sighed in relief and they drove off.

The party was exactly the way Edd had pictured it in his head; a whole bunch of teenagers dancing wildly with each other, drink in hand and almost losing their balance. There was a hint of tobacco in the air. Double D followed Nat closely behind, not wanting to get lost in the midst of the chaos happening around them. They walked into the kitchen where only a small group of people were standing around, laughing and eating. It wasn't bad in there. No one was smoking and only some were drinking. Edd finally felt like he could breathe.

"Goldberg!" A few guys hollered out, sauntering their way into the kitchen.

Edd recognized them from the football team. Nathan turned around and smiled, giving each of them a quick hug with a pat on the back. None of the guys acknowledge Double D and the sockhead backed into a corner to not be in the way.

"Man, I was beginning to think you wouldn't come," Stephen said to Nat. "A lot of girls were getting upset."

Nat's face brightened and he grinned his huge confident grin. "Well I'm not one to disappoint the ladies."

"Then let's go!" The other guy with spiky black hair said, putting his hand on Nat's back and leading him back into the living room. Nat glanced back at Edd and smiled apologetically before disappearing into the crowd.

Double D furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. _The nerve of him to leave me here alone in a room filled with- _"Double D?" The familiar voice made his breath catch in his throat. He looked over to see Kevin walking towards him.

"G-good evening, Kevin." Edd smiled nervously at him.

"What are you doing here?" The redhead asked, then gasped. "I mean, not that you shouldn't be here, but uh... it's kind of weird seeing someone like you... I mean... I-I didn't mean-"

"It's fine, Kevin," Double D said. "I know exactly what you mean. I'm only here for Nathan."

"For Nat?" Kevin sneered at the thought of that. For Nathan. _For_?

"He insisted I'd come." Edd shrugged.

"And then he ditches you?" The redhead rolled his eyes. "What a good friend he is."

Double D brought his hand up to his mouth and giggled. "Well the ladieswere waiting for him."

Kevin couldn't resist laughing at that. He leaned against the kitchen counter and smiled at the sockhead. "In that case, dork, I'll keep you company."

"Wouldn't you rather have fun?"

The redhead narrowed his eyes at Edd. "I didn't even wanna come to this stupid party."

"Then why did you?"

"I don't know." He moved closer to Double D and smiled slightly, "But now I'm glad I did."

Edd's eyes widened. _What does he mean by that? And why is he so close? Oh dear._ The sockhead took a step back to calm his nerves, but Kevin only leaned in closer.

Kevin realized his actions and immediately jumped back. He cleared his throat. "Uh, so... you want something to drink or eat?"

Edd swallowed and noticed how dry his mouth really was. "Water would be nice."

The redhead nodded and walked over to the refrigerator. He grabbed two water bottles and tossed one at Edd. Double D barely caught it. Kevin stood right next to him, allowing Edd to catch a whiff of his cologne. The ravenette's heart thudded against his chest and he looked in the other direction as his cheeks heated up.

Kevin took a sip of his water and sighed. "I don't know why people make these parties to be a huge deal. They're actually fucking boring."

Double D had the urge to scold Kevin for using fowl language, but he couldn't even speak. He stared at the floor and simply nodded.

"Hey Sockhead!"

Kevin growled at the sound of voice approaching them. He turned to see Eddy and Ed. _Great. Just fucking great. _The redhead rolled his eyes and moved aside. Double D finally looked up and smiled at his best friends.

"You invited them?" Kevin asked and didn't even try to hide his annoyance in the tone of his voice.

"Of course he did!" Eddy said, wrapping an arm around Edd's neck. "Man, this party is awesome! Come on, Double D! Let's go have ourselves some fun." He started to drag Edd away.

Double D got one last look at an angry Kevin once more before Ed blocked his view.

"Yay! Dance time!" The tallest Ed jumped up and down excitedly as he pushed the sockhead further into the living room.

Edd uncomfortably stood in between his friends as they moved to the rhythm of the loud music. _'I feel so close to you right now. It's a force field. I wear my heart upon my sleeve like a big deal.' _Nathan clapped his hands with the music. He grabbed a brunette girl dancing near him by the waist and pulled her into his arms. She scoffed at first until she realized who it was.

"Nathan Kedd Goldberg," she purred. "What a pleasant surprise."

"The pleasure's all mine, babe." Nat winked at her as they got closer and started dancing together.

Eddy and Ed attempted to dance with a few girls and Double D took that opportunity to escape. He didn't want to be on the dance floor where he obviously didn't fit in. Someone accidentently bumped him too hard and he stumbled sideways. Nat tripped forward at the small impact from Edd.

"Nat!" The brunette sneered. "Watch out."

The freckled teen turned around to see Double D. "Double dude!" He grinned.

Edd winced at the smell of alcohol. "Nathan, you're already drinking?"

"Is that a problem?" And when Edd nodded, Nat laughed and said, "Dude, it's a party. Lighten up!" He grabbed the ravenette's hands and started dancing again.

Edd had no idea what to do, but he awkwardly tried moving the same way Nathan did as best as he could. _'And there's no stopping us right now. I feel so close to you right now.' _The brunette squeezed in between them. The three were dancing very closely together that Edd almost found it hard to breathe. He would turn his head every now and so to catch some air that wasn't the girl's or Nat's breath.

After two more songs, Edd was through with that. He returned to his friends and they made their way outside where teens were also dancing and swimming in the large pool. Ed and Eddy went on ahead to jump into the pool as Double D stood aside and watched. The fresh night air felt nice against his face and he sighed. Inside, Kevin and Nat glanced around the room, neither of them noticing they were looking for the same person. Nat eventually gave up and walked back into the kitchen to grab a beer. Kevin walked in after him.

"Want one?" The freckled teen asked, but Kevin shook his head. "Alright then." Nathan opened the bottle and chugged down most of the drink.

"Relax," the redhead told him. "You drove here."

"So?"

"You also brought Edd here." Kevin squinted his eyes at his best friend.

Nathan grinned. "Don't worry. I won't drink too much." But that was a lie.

Kevin decided to leave after failing to find Double D. He said his quick goodbyes to his friends and Nat before heading out. With the redhead out of the way, Nat began drinking up more. By the time eleven thirty rolled around, Edd wanted to leave. His friends were now dancing with a few drunk girls so he didn't bother bidding a goodnight to them. He giggled at the sight of Ed swaying the girl back and fourth playfully and entered the house. He scanned the room slowly. Bright teal hair shouldn't have been hard to spot, but it was. He spent around three minutes staring into the crowd of drunk teenagers before he spotted Nathan. Nat stumbled his way into the kitchen and Double D quickly followed him.

"Nathan!" He shouted.

The green-haired teen jumped and spun around. "Hey, there you are!" His voice sounded high pitched and with the look in his eyes, Edd knew Nat was drunk out of his mind.

"I believe it's time we leave," Double D said as he gently grabbed Nat's arm.

"It's too early!" Nat protested, trying to pull his arm away.

"Nathan, please. Give me your car keys."

The freckled teen refused, but Edd stuffed his hand into the pocket of the varsity jacket and yanked out the keys.

"Hey!" Nat growled. "Those are mine!"

"Yes, they are." Edd nodded. "Now let's go."

The amber eyed teen huffed and followed Double D out of the house. He couldn't keep his balance much and ended up leaning against Edd. The sockhead did his best to hold him as they walked to the car. He opened the door to the passenger seat for Nat and Nat practically fell in.

Edd rolled his eyes and made his way over to the driver's seat. He didn't have his license with him and driving without it made him uneasy, but was there any other choice he had? Probably, but in the moment, all he wanted to do was get home, away from the mess. Double D parked the car in his driveway and looked over at Nat. The freckled teen grinned lazily at him.

"You brought me to your home." He laughed.

Double D furrowed his eyebrows at the drunk guy next to him and shook his head. He stepped out of the car and was relieved when he saw Nat do the same. He didn't have to go through the struggle of helping him out. Edd unlocked the front door and turned on the lights. His parents still weren't home. The two made their way inside and up the stairs. Nat held onto the railing as he slowly stepped up. Double D waited for him by his room, his arms crossed. Nat caught up with him and smiled, but Edd just stared at him with a frustrated expression.

"Are you mad at me?" Nathan asked.

Double D sighed and shook his head.

"Cool." Nat opened the door to Edd's bedroom, but was pulled back.

"Hold on just a minute, mister!" The sockhead scolded. Nathan groaned and faced the lanky teen.

Double D held up a pair of bunny slippers. "You cannot enter my room without wearing these."

"Seriously?" Nat's face brightened with amusement as he took the slippers. He slipped them on and grinned in satisfaction. "Hey, these aren't that bad. I might keep 'em."

"You will not!" Edd snapped, but Nat ignored him and walked into the bedroom.

He immediately made his way over to Edd's bed and jumped on top of it. Double D cringed but didn't say anything about it.

"Wait here," he said instead, "I'll return once I'm done changing and brushing my teeth."

"Yeah, yeah," Nat mumbled, getting himself comfortable by hugging Edd's pillow. He rubbed his face in it. It smelled like Edd's sweet scent and Nat smiled.

Inside the bathroom, Double D brushed his teeth and then slipped on his blue pajama pants and grey night shirt. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He hadn't realized just how exhausted he really was. When he returned to his bedroom, he found Nat completely dozed off and snoring. Edd didn't like having anyone in his bed, but his friend looked too peaceful to disturb. He sighed and made his way downstairs. _I suppose I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight._

* * *

A/N: The idea of having Nat wearing Edd's bunny slippers came from curlyswords on tumblr. :)


	5. Chapter five

A/N: Errr, I think someone gets kissed... or something. I'm not sure. Tee hee. ;)

* * *

Nathan woke the next morning with his head throbbing. He winced as he tried sitting himself up.

"Man, what time is it?" He asked as he rubbed his forehead. Opening his eyes slowly, his vision was blurry. The freckled teen blinked a few times and realized he was in an unfamiliar place. Everything in the room looked very organized and neat. He then noticed all the labels on every single object in there and it finally clicked. He was in Edd's room. "Whoa!" Nat jumped out of the bed and cringed when his head throbbed even more with the sudden movement. "Oh... fuck!"

"Is it too much to ask that you do not use that sort of language?" Double D walked into his room and placed a tray of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and orange juice on his desk.

Nathan's stomach growled. "Those pancakes look so sexy." He licked his lips.

"They are for you to enjoy." Edd smiled at him and stepped aside.

"That's for _me_?" Nat pointed to himself and Double D nodded. "Sweet!" He grabbed the fork and dug in.

"I figured you would be in need of some food after all the alcohol you downed last night."

Nat stopped mid-pancake and looked at Edd. "Was I that bad?"

"You refused to leave at first, but it wasn't much trouble getting you here."

"Thanks Edd," Nat said, smiling half-heartedly before returning to his meal. He felt a little ashamed of himself. Double D, his freaking crush, had to actually deal with his drunken state. He shook his head slightly as he eat. _Mental slap for you, Goldberg_. "I'm sorry that you had to do that, though. Can I make it up to you somehow?" He asked, grinning as he put his fork down.

"No need for that, Nathan," Edd said. "It's what good friends do, right?" He smiled shyly.

The bright amber-eyed teen laughed. "Yes, it is."

* * *

Nat left Double D's house right after he finished his breakfast because of a text message he received from Kevin: _'Hey man. Can you come over? I got something I want to talk to you about.' _Of course Nat was quick as possible to go over and see what Kevin needed to discuss. Any kind of gossip was juicy for Nathan. He walked up to the redhead's door with his cocky grin on his face and knocked on the front door.

Kevin was in his kitchen, grabbing a soda from the refrigerator when he heard the knocks. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he made his way over.

"Nat?" Kevin chuckled slightly when he opened the door and saw his best friend standing there. "Didn't I just call you like two minutes ago? How the hell are you here already?"

Nat's eyes widened as he realized he hadn't really thought that over. "Uh... I ran?"

The redhead rolled his emerald green eyes and shook his head. "Alright, it's cool. Don't tell me. Come in." He moved aside to allow the green-haired teen to walk in.

Nathan laughed nervously and playfully punched the other's shoulder. "So, what's up?"

Kevin closed the door and froze momentarily as he put his thoughts together. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. His silence only piqued Nat's curiosity.

"Uh... how was the party after I left?"

Nat squinted his amber eyes at the redhead. "I know that's not what you wanted to talk about."

Kevin sighed. "It has to do with-" He groaned, not able to finish his sentence.

"Come on, man," Nat said. "What's so hard about telling me? I mean, it's _me_." He grinned.

"Yeah, I know you're my bro and everything, but... it's weird. It's different and it's kind of hard for me to admit it to myself." The redhead licked his dry lips and looked at his best friend. "So you can't judge me. Alright?" Nat nodded and Kevin went on, "I have a stupid crush on someone."

"That's it?"

"I'm not finished, Goldberg." Kevin sighed. "It's... not a girl."

Nathan smiled. "Dude, why did you think I was going to judge you for liking a guy?"

"That's not the part I was talking about. It's the 'who'."

The freckled teen raised his eyebrows. "Oh." He smirked and stepped closer to Kevin. "Who is it?"

_No turning back now._ Kevin cleared his throat and said, "It's Double Dweeb."

If a heart could really break, then Nat's had shattered into so many pieces. He felt the emotional ache in his chest. No. He didn't hear that. He couldn't have. It wasn't possible. Nathan turned away and scratched the back of his head, forcing himself to not shout out that he had feelings for the same person and that he wasn't going to share. But why would he do that? Edd was just a crush. He wasn't worth the fight with his best friend, so he turned his head back to face Kevin and with all his might, he smiled.

"Seriously?" He asked. "Wow, I... uh, I wouldn't have guessed. Ha."

The weak laugh made Kevin raise an questioningly eyebrow at him, but he didn't ask anything. "Yeah, I know. That's why I felt weird telling you. I know what I said to you a few weeks ago about him being some dork, but like I said, I've been getting to know him and... fuck. Man, I don't want to feel this way, but I can't help it. He's just... he's-" Kevin shook his head. "Different."

_I know_, Nat sighed. "I-I told you he was cool..."

"Yeah." The redhead rolled his eyes and took a seat on the couch. He put his head down and sighed. "He's amazing... And I keep feeling all pathetic and nervous around him, it sucks."

"That's why you wanted to walk him..."

Kevin looked up at the freckled teen and nodded. "Yeah."

Nat remained silent. He didn't know what to say. He was actually speechless and his mind was at a blank.

"So, what should I do?" Kevin asked.

Nathan sighed through his nose and looked in another direction.

The redhead furrowed his eyebrows and jumped up from his seat. "Nat, man. I need help. I don't know what to do. Do I tell him how I feel?" His eyes widened with fear. "No, no, no. I can't tell him. He's probably straight and he'll just get all freaked out and feel uncomfortable with me in class and-"

"I'll talk to him," Nat interrupted.

Kevin smiled wide. "Really?"

"Yeah..."

"This is why you're my best friend." Kevin walked up to Nat and hugged him tightly.

The green-haired teen resisted hugging back, but he did anyway, a frown on his face as he did so. "Yeah, anything for my best friend."

* * *

Nathan left right after that, but on his way to his car, he was stopped by Nazz.

"Nat!" She greeted, smiling friendly as she approached. "Hey, dude. You kind of disappeared last night. Did you make it home, okay?"

"I never went home."

"What? Did you stay over at Kevin's?"

The freckled teen shook his head. "No. Edd took me to his. I was really drunk." His lips twitched into somewhat of a smile, as much as he could manage and Nazz noticed it.

"Something's wrong," she said.

Nathan looked away. "Nothing's ever wrong with me. What are you talking about? Heh."

"Then look at me."

Nat sighed and faced the blonde again.

"That look in your eyes," Nazz said. She gently grabbed his hand. "Don't lie to me, dude. I can tell something's bothering you. Especially, because you're right, you're never sad, so it's really easy to tell that you're sad now."

Nat couldn't hold it in any longer. "Alright, Nazz. You've caught me." He held his hands up in defeat and smirked lazily.

"Nat," the blonde pouted. "Talk to me. I'm listening."

The green-haired teen scrunched up his nose. "If you stop looking at me with that cute puppy face of yours, I will, but not out here."

Nazz brightened. "Okay, to my house then." She turned around and headed towards it with Nathan following behind. He really wasn't in the mood to talk about it, but maybe it was a good idea. Maybe Nazz could give him some good advice on what to do.

They entered the house and Nazz told him to take a seat on the couch while she went to go get water. He nodded and sat down. The blonde retrieved two water bottles from the refrigerator and tossed one at him before sitting down next to him. She opened hers and took a sip, but Nat just set his on the coffee table.

"Okay, Goldberg," she said, "Talk."

Nathan laid back on the couch and threw his hands up. "Kevin and I have a crush on the same person."

"Aw, Nat, I'm so sorry." Nazz sighed and gently rubbed his thigh. "Let me guess, Kevin called dibs on her."

"He doesn't know I like... _him_, too."

"Him? I didn't know Kevin-"

"Neither did I, but yeah, we both like the same guy, and he just finished telling me." Nathan growled and stood up. "And I'm stupid. I actually offered to help him out by talking to the dude. How am I supposed to do that, Nazz?"

Nazz followed his movement. "Who is it?"

"It's Edd."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Nat raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

The blonde smiled. "Edd, he's really likable, such a sweetheart and all. I can see why you two have your eyes on him."

"I liked it better when I was the only one."

"Don't be so down about this, Nat. You don't know how Edd feels. For all you know, Edd could be crushing on you-"

Nathan interrupted her by laughing. "No, Nazz." He shook his head. "A dude like him wouldn't go for someone like me. He needs someone who's more... smart and stuff, or someone like Kevin; popular and funny."

"You're those things, too." Nazz crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "And unless Edd tells you himself, there's a chance he feels the same about you." She gently bit her lower lip. "Dude, this is like hard for me, because I love you and Kevin."

"I know!" Nat sat back down and covered his face with a pillow. "Kevin's my best friend. I can't tell him how I feel." His voice was muffled through the object.

Nazz took the pillow from him and he continued to talk, "It's the way Double D looks at Kevin. It's not hard to tell that there's chemistry there, and when I tell him about Kevin's crush on him, I know he'll flip with joy and there'll go my chance." He whined and pouted. "Nazz, I'm bummed out. I didn't want this shit to bother me, but it does. And a lot, too."

"Nathan freaking Kedd Goldberg." Nazz shook her head and sat down next to him again. "You go ahead and tell Double D that Kevin likes him only if _you _want to. No one is forcing you, so if you don't want, don't. If Kevin wants to make a move, then he can do it himself. He shouldn't be depending on you."

"Yeah okay, Nazz, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to end up jealous and alone."

"Why are you so sure that Edd likes Kevin back?"

"I already said it! The eye-contact. The smiles. The everything."

Nazz rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean anything."

"I can prove it to you." Nathan sat up. "But that means I will have to tell Edd about Kevin."

"Like I said, Nat, only if _you_ want to."

"I have to."

* * *

_Man, I'm never going home today_, Nat thought to himself as he walked back over to Edd's house. He stopped once he reached the front door and raised his fist to knock, but hesitated. _'Only if you want to'_, Nazz's words echoed in his ears. He knocked twice and waited. Double D answered the door only seconds later.

"Nathan." He greeted the freckled teen with a smile. "I thought you would be home by now." Edd headed back to the couch, allowing Nat to enter.

"Yeah, me too." Nat followed Double D inside and closed the door behind him. He sighed. "Look, man. I have something to tell you and I'm sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

"I'm intrigued now." Edd giggled.

Nat couldn't help but laugh weakly. He turned around to face the sockhead. "So, what would you say if I told you I knew someone who liked you?"

"Someone who liked me?"

"Yeah, like a crush."

Double D blinked twice. He could feel heat rising in his cheeks. "W-what?" Nathan walked over to him and Edd slowly stood up.

"It's..." Nat looked down at his hands. "It's Kevin."

Edd's lips twitched up automatically and his cheeks were now hotter than ever. He could feel his heart's rate increase with the nervous and giddy feeling growing in his stomach. Nat lifted his head and the ache in his chest returned. _I knew it,_ he sighed. Double D didn't say anything, but his joy was evident.

A short strand of hair escaped from underneath the beanie and Nat couldn't resist brushing it out of Edd's face. The soft touch made the sockhead shiver slightly and his smile quickly faded. Nat's hand continued to linger down Double D's face, caressing his cheek softly. Double D noted just how close to each other they were. He could feel Nat's breath on his face. He also got a good look at how yellow the freckled teen's eyes were.

"Well, I guess Kevin's going to be happy. I can tell you feel the same," Nat said, putting his hand down. "Because of that look on your face when-" He was cut off by his lips being captured by Edd's. His mind screamed, _holy shit! Holy fucking shit. _

Double D cupped Nathan's face as he continued to kiss him, but just as Nat was melting into the kiss, the sockhead gasped and pulled away. He covered his mouth and shook his head, his entire face turning a bright shade of red. Nat just stood there, gaping at the other.

"My apologies," Edd said, uncovering his mouth. "I-I don't know what came over me. That was very inappropriate. Oh dear, oh dear!" He began pacing back and forth.

Nat wanted nothing more but to say that it was fine, that he liked it, because he liked him, but the words wouldn't come out.

"Nathan, please forgive me," Double D told him, his voice sounding so vulnerable. "Or at least say something."

The green-haired took another few seconds to regain himself from what had just occurred. He cleared his throat and said, "It's cool, Double dude. Just next time, go do that with Kevin." He winked at Edd and he hoped the lanky teen wouldn't notice the struggle he was going through inside. "But," Nat spoke again, "I know it's hard to resist me." He grinned lopsidedly.

Double D's eyes widened. "Oh dear." He lowered his beanie down enough to cover half his face.

_Aw man, Edd,_ Nathan thought, _don't do that_. He quickly took the sockhead into his arms in an awkward hug and said, "It's alright, dude. We can just..." His voice drifted as he sadly looked down at the floor. "We can just pretend it never happened."

Double D lifted up his beanie to make eye-contact with Nat and nodded. "Yes, that would be the best thing to do." He wiggled out of Nat's embrace. He couldn't really understand why he had kissed Nathan. The freckled teen was his friend. _Just _his friend. He didn't have any feelings for him. But then Edd sighed softly as he turned away. No, he knew he did feel _something _for him deep down. He just wanted to pretend it wasn't true. Maybe it wasn't an actual crush like the one he had on Kevin. Maybe it was just the way Nat was. The guy was a charmer and was quick to make anyone smile. Maybe that's all it was; Edd was merely caught up in that charm. Well, whatever it was, Double D couldn't really bring himself to make any more eye-contact with him.

"So," Nat said, but the sockhead still didn't face him. "What do I tell Kevin?" He honestly wanted to forget about the reason he had returned to Eddward's house, but a voice in his head kept telling him that Kevin was his best friend and he always helped his friends in any way he could, even if that meant the worst for himself.

Edd's eyes went wide and he spun around. "You certainly will not tell him about this!"

"Dude, he would kill me if he found out, so don't worry about it." The green-haired teen forced a smile and stepped forward. "I meant, what is your answer for Kevin? Do you, ya know..."

The giddy feeling returned unexpectedly to Double D's stomach as he realized what Nathan meant. "O-oh... why, I-I-" He smiled shyly and nodded.

"Awesome," Nat said, not bothering to smile or show any indication of enthusiasm. "I'll let him know. Heh." He licked his lips, momentarily going back to a few minutes earlier when Edd's lips were pressed against his. It was such a soft and warm kiss, sweeter than any kisses he had received before. Did it mean something? Nathan didn't want to over think it, but if someone just randomly kissed someone else, it had to mean _something_. It had to. Or... did it not? It wasn't the time and place to come up with the answer. He wanted to get out of there and go home. Home sweet home. Yeah. That sounded nice.

"I'm out," he told Double D as he turned around and headed quickly to the door.

"Until tomorrow, then, Nathan," Edd said.

Nat nodded and walked out without looking back. Edd sat down and smiled. Kevin liked him. _Him_. Out of everyone at the school, the redhead liked the Double dork. Double D sighed lovingly, but he snapped out of his daze once his eyes fell on the front door.

"Oh, but Nathan," he said. "He must feel absolutely violated and repulsed.." The sockhead pulled his beanie down over his eyes. "Curse my inability to resist. It's Kevin I want, not one of my dear friends!" He furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "Kevin, _only_ Kevin."


	6. Chapter six

A/N: This was supposed to be posted like Wednesday, I believe, but nope. I didn't have the inspiration to write it. I had the middle part done, but I couldn't get the first and last part written. It just wouldn't happen, but then it finally did.

By the way, for those who have been wanting to read a threesome between Kevin, Edd, and Nat, I did write a oneshot on it. If you haven't seen it yet, you can find it on my tumblr under 'My short fics'.

~ enjoy that and this chapter. :)

Nat belongs to Acid.

* * *

He woke up with a hangover, found out his best friend liked his crush, went to tell his crush the news and was kissed by him. Nathan definitely needed rest after all of that. He drove home, his eyes were hardly open. He pulled into his driveway and yawned loudly. Food and sleep. That's all he wanted. His father wasn't home from work yet, so he made himself a PB&J sandwich and headed into his room.

"Guess I should text Kev real quick and tell him," the freckled teen mumbled, sighing in defeat as he took out his phone from his jean's pocket. He typed in the message, _'You're in. Dude likes you back.'_ and hesitated a moment before pressing send. He didn't wait for the redhead to text back. He went ahead and lied down, closing his eyes and allowing himself to drift off into sleep.

Kevin was drying his hair with a towel after a shower when his phone buzzed on his bed. He tossed his towel aside and sauntered over to grab his phone. Seeing it was from Nat, curiosity and anxiousness went all through him. This was _the_ text. With a smile, he opened up the message and read it. _Dude likes you back._ Emerald eyes widened with surprise and excitement as he read over the message again. Yes. He had read it right. Edd, the double dork from across the street, returned his feelings. Kevin wanted to dance around his room, cheering 'Yes!' but he contained himself and cleared his throat, allowing a grin to spread across his face instead. He walked over to his window and stared at Double D's house, his heart now beating faster.

"I should go over there and ask the dude out," the redhead mumbled to himself, but as he made his to his closet, he stopped and looked over at his window. "Maybe I'll wait to ask him tomorrow. Yeah... that sounds better."

But when morning came, Kevin was feeling hesitate and wanted to back out, but he couldn't. He knew he would regret it later, especially since Double D already knew. He got himself to school on his motorcycle. Before he left, he did consider asking Edd if he wanted a ride, but the nerves got the better of him. Nat walked up to him as he parked his bike.

"Hey, Nat," Kevin greeted him.

Nathan grinned and patted the redhead's back. "So, have you asked him out yet?" He swallowed the lump in his throat, his question tasting bitter, but he figured if he couldn't have Edd, he would at least try to be happy for his best friend.

Kevin shook his head. "Not yet. I don't even know what I'm gonna say. And if we go out on a date, where the hell are we even gonna go?" The redhead shrugged and sighed. The two made their way into the school building.

"Well, man," Nat started. "If you're going to take the little dude somewhere, it's gotta be somewhere he likes."

Kevin thought about it. "Uh, the movies to see some educational film or the museum?"

"Good ideas, sure... but..." The green-haired teen sighed through his nose and grinned. "Well, if I took him out on a date, we would go to the planetarium." His smile softened. "Because I know how much Edd has been wanting to go there-"

"That's perfect, then!" Kevin interrupted. "I'll take him there. Thanks, Nat. It means a lot." The redhead quickly gave his best friend a hug and walked off.

Nathan furrowed his eyebrows a little as he watched Kevin walk away.

* * *

There wasn't a cooking assignment in third period that day. They spent the hour working on a worksheet about baking. Double D was working productively on it, being the first one done. Kevin couldn't concentrate, being next to the sockhead and all. Edd had the same problem, but he tried ignoring the fluttering inside his stomach for the sake of getting his work done. They both avoided eye-contact.

_Okay, after this class, I'll do it_, Kevin mentally told himself_._ He snuck at peek at Edd, but quickly turned away before Edd could notice. Double D fidgeted with his fingers, trying to occupy his mind with anything but Kevin. He didn't like the awkward tension in the air and he wondered idly if it was going to be that way from now on or if the redhead was going to do something about his "feelings". Edd needed to break the silence. He couldn't stand not talking to him.

"A-are you finished with the worksheet?" He asked.

Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and smiled slightly. "Uh... almost."

Double D nodded and that was the end of that conversation until the bell rung. Most of the students cleared the room before Edd and Kevin got up from their seats. Once the classroom was partly empty, the jock reached out and gently grabbed the blue-eyed teen's wrist.

"Hey," he said.

Edd turned to face him. "Yes?" He flashed his sweet smile at him.

"I was wondering if you... I guess..." Kevin growled in annoyance at his own inability to ask a simple question. "Look, if you're free Friday night, maybe we can go somewhere... together." The redhead smiled a nervous toothy smile.

Double D's heart practically leaped in his chest and he wanted to nod frantically, repeating 'Yes, of course! Yes!' but he didn't want to scare the athletic away.

"That would be nice," he simply said, his cheeks warming up.

Kevin grinned in satisfaction. "Alright, then I'll pick you up at five. See you around, man."

Edd waved goodbye to the redhead and sighed lovingly once he was out of sight. Friday. That seemed so awfully away.

* * *

Throughout the rest of the week, Kevin and Edd spoke more in class, exchanged smiles in the halls, and Nat could barely stand the jealousy he felt inside. Every time Edd would try starting a conversation with him, the bright amber eyed teen made an excuse to get away. Sure Double D was a little suspicious, but he didn't want to question Nathan. Maybe he was really always busy.

Friday came along and Edd honestly could not wait for school to end. That was a first. But the sockhead wanted to get home and get ready for his first real date. It was the only thing that he could think in all his classes and when the last bell of the day rung, he sped walk to his locker to grab a few of his textbooks for homework he had over the weekend.

Nat was listening to one of Stephen's many one night stand stories as they made their way down the hall. The freckled teen just nodded every now and so to give his friend the indication that he was listening when he really wasn't. Stephen's stories were the exact same. The only thing different was the girl. Edd shut his locker and quickly headed towards the front doors. He was too busy putting a pen away in one of the pockets in his messenger bag to watch where he was going and accidentally crashed into Nathan. Nat looked over and held his breath.

"Nathan!" Edd smiled wide. "I apologize for that."

"Uh, I'll meet you outside," Stephen said to Nat before walking off.

The freckled teen sighed through his nose and smiled lopsidedly. "Hey, Double Dude."

"How long has it been since we've spoken?"

"Like this morning."

"Oh." Edd smiled shyly as they began to walk. "We haven't said much to each other."

Nat shrugged. "I know."

"Is it uncomfortable for you that I'm getting involved with Kevin?"

_Involved... _Nat looked at him and shook his head. "I don't have a problem with it. Why you think that?"

"You are rather distant from me lately."

"Sorry." Nat hated how obvious he was being, but the sockhead didn't seem to notice and part of him wished Edd would take the hint.

They reached the front doors and Nat held one open for Edd. Double D smiled with gratitude and made his way out, followed by Nathan. Stephen was waiting with other friends at the bottom of the steps and Edd turned to face Nat.

"I suppose we'll talk some other time?" He asked and the freckled teen nodded.

"Later dude." The green-haired teen forced a grin and left to join his friends.

There was definitely something up with Nat, but Edd didn't want to make any assumptions. Although, he was a little disappointed he didn't receive a goodbye hug as he usually did. The sockhead shrugged it off and headed to the parking lot to meet up with Ed and Eddy.

"What took you so long?" Eddy asked as he got into his car.

Ed hopped in the backseat while Double D took the passenger seat.

"I was having a quick..." Edd paused a moment and squinted his eyes, "A _very_ quick, discussion with Nathan."

Eddy drove out of the school parking lot and started heading towards the cul-de-sac.

"So, what are you gonna wear on your date with shovel chin?" He asked Double D.

Edd gasped a little. He hadn't even thought about it. Not once. He never thought about what to wear. He just wore what felt right. Kind of like with the party. But this was no high school party. It was a date... with _Kevin_. The sockhead slumped in his seat.

"I'm not sure," he admitted.

Eddy snorted. "Seriously? You haven't been able to shut up about this date all week and you don't even know what you're wearing?!" He shook his head. "Ed, talk some sense into Double D."

"Okay, Eddy!" Ed leaned forward enough so his face was right next to Double D's. "Double D, you can wear my new outfit! It'll look nice on you." He smiled excitedly. "It's white and grey with green!"

"That's very nice of you to offer, Ed, but I'm afraid we're both different sizes in clothing."

Eddy parked in his driveway. "Listen, Sockhead," he said as he turned off the car and stepped out. "If you need help, we'll help ya."

Edd gently closed the car door behind him and smiled at his friend. "I would appreciate it. Thank you."

The Eds headed over to Double D's house. Ed and Eddy entered the sockhead's room without cleaning their shoes and Double D was tempted to lecture them about it, but he held himself back. It wasn't the time and he was too much in a good mood to care that much about dirty shoes. He could simply vacuum his room later. Eddy opened up Edd's closet and began shifting through the neatly organized clothes.

"Jeez, Double D," he mumbled. "Do you own anything that doesn't look like you go to a prep school?"

Edd crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows. "There isn't anything wrong with my clothes. I dress perfectly normal, thank you very much."

"Normal?" Eddy scoffed as he held up one of Double D's many sweater vests. "Yeah, because this is normal."

"What is so unusual about it?"

Ed giggled. "I like it, Double D. It makes you my Double D." He wrapped his arms around the lanky teen and squeezed him tightly.

Edd smiled. "Why, thank you, Ed."

The trio spent another twenty minutes rummaging through Double D's closet before settling on blue jeans, light grey dress shirt with a beige cardigan and a dark grey tie.

"It's the best I can do with your clothes," Eddy told him, laying out the clothes on the bed.

Edd rolled his eyes and sighed. "I appreciate the help, Eddy."

Eddy smiled. "Have fun, Sockhead. We'll talk to you later."

Ed hugged Double D once more before following Eddy out. Double D checked the time and saw he had more than enough time to shower first before getting dressed. Kevin also took a shower. His hands were slightly shaky from excitement and he almost dropped the bar of soap ten times. He was done getting ready ten minutes early and headed for Double D's house.

Edd was also finished and was sitting on the couch in his living room, waiting. He fiddled with the hem of his shirt to pass the remaining time. _How does one react on a date? Oh dear. I should have asked Eddy for advice. I'm going to make a complete fool of myself._ Double D lowered his beanie to cover his eyes in shame and then, the doorbell rung. He sat up and gasped.

"Now, now, Eddward," he quietly said to himself. "It's only Kevin." The sockhead made his way over to the door and turned the knob.

The jock had his back turned, but he faced Double D once he heard the door open. His jaw dropped open a little at the sight of the blue-eyed teen in front of him.

"Wow," he said under his breath.

Edd raised his eyebrows and looked down at his outfit. "Do I look ridiculous?"

Kevin closed his mouth and swallowed. "N-no. Not at all, man. You look... good."_ Really good. _

The sockhead smiled. "You as well." Kevin was wearing dark blue skinny jeans with a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Seeing Edd's outfit, the redhead felt underdressed. At least they were both wearing sneakers. Edd stepped out onto the front step and locked the front door.

"May I ask where we're going?" He asked the redhead as they walked across the street.

"You hungry?" Kevin asked.

Edd nodded.

"Then we can go get something to eat and then I'll take you to where I had planned."

They reached Kevin's driveway where his motorcycle stood and Edd felt an uneasy feeling inside him.

"You're not scared, are you?" The emerald-eyed teen asked, seeing the worry on Double D's face. "If you are, all you gotta do is hold onto me tightly. Don't worry. I've been driving this practically my whole." He smirked as he handed over the spare helmet to Edd and Edd couldn't help but return the smile.

They got on the bike and Edd wrapped his arms tightly around Kevin's waist. The engine roared as the redhead started up the motorcycle and drove off, going slower than he normally did for Edd's sake.

Nat sat in the theater room in his house, lazily throwing popcorn into his mouth as he watched the original Karate Kid. He had seen the movie over twenty times with his father and was supposed to be watching it again that night with the old man, but his father had forgotten and stayed over time at work. It was their thing, but apparently that didn't mean enough to Mr. Goldberg. Nathan sighed and grabbed his phone from his pocket. He scrolled down his contacts until he found Edd's number and typed in a message: _'Hope you have an awesome date with Kevin. Take care of him for me.' _But he didn't expect a reply.

Kevin parked his motorcycle in front of a burger joint and took off his helmet. Edd followed his movements and slid off the bike.

"That was fun," the redhead said and Double D giggled.

They entered the small restaurant and Edd scrunched up his nose in disgust at the smell of grease in the air. He walked side-by-side with Kevin up to the cash register. The redhead asked Edd what he wanted. Double D looked at the menu. Nothing really sounded appetizing, but he was hungry. He settled on a regular cheeseburger. Kevin asked for two orders of that with medium fries and two Cokes. The couple took their seat at one of the empty booths. Kevin took a sip of his soda and sighed.

"I have to say," Edd began, "I'm a little surprised that we're here."

"Why? You don't like burgers?"

"Oh, no. That isn't what I meant. I meant, I'm surprised that we're here... together."

Kevin grinned. "Surprised we're actually on a date?"

A bright pink color formed on Double D's cheeks and he looked down at his hands. "Y-yes. What made you want to-"

"I think you're..." Kevin shrugged. "You're just... you're you." The redhead looked away slowly, trying to hide the nervous expression on his face, but Edd could see it and it made him feel good.

Their food arrived and Kevin dug right in. Double D took small bites and would laugh every now and so at how fast and messy Kevin ate his food. The redhead caught his actions and blushed in embarrassment. He quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled at Edd. After that, they exited the place and got back on the motorcycle. Double D held onto Kevin a little less tight than before from feeling more comfortable on the vehicle now.

The redhead was anxious to get to the planetarium. Based on what Nat had said, Kevin knew Edd was going to flip with joy. The sockhead's grip tightened again once they headed into the highway. He shut his eyes and pressed himself up against Kevin's back. The jock smirked as felt the embrace. The ride wasn't too long, but when they stopped, Edd still felt the tingles from the vibration on his hands. It took him a bit to get the courage to open his eyes.

"Come on, Edd," Kevin told him, chuckling slightly. "We're here."

"Oh, okay." Double D slowly opened his eyes, but they widened immediately at the sight of the huge building in front of them. His lips parted a little.

The redhead cleared his throat, getting back the sockhead's attention. "So, what do ya think?"

"Kevin, I've been wanting to come here for such a long time now." Edd got off the motorcycle and took off the helmet. "I-I..." He faced the redhead and smiled. "I think we're going to have a nice evening."

The two of them made their to the entrance and Kevin purchased their tickets. They followed a few groups making their way into the theater. Edd couldn't stop his smile from widening and his heart from beating faster as they took their seats.

Kevin sighed. "I'll admit," he said. "This was Nat's idea."

Double D's smile faded quick. He looked at the redhead. "Nathan? Oh, I didn't know he remembered that conversation."

The redhead grinned. "Nat remembers everything. One of the reasons I love that guy."

The corners of Edd's lips rose again. The show started and Double D stared in awe. Everyone seemed very into it, but Kevin didn't know what was so fascinating. He looked over at Edd. The amazement in the dork's eyes was purely adorable. Kevin found himself staring at him, admiring the features on his face and he smiled softly. He looked down at Double D's hand and hesitated before gently grabbing it. Edd turned his head and faced the redhead. Kevin squeezed the sockhead's hand and Edd moved it so that they were interlocking fingers. The jock took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

It could be cliché to say it felt like a dream, but it did to Double D. He thought he was in some sort of daze, not being able to quite process what was going on anymore. One moment he was struck by the beauty of the stars and the next, he was struck by the beauty that was Kevin. Kevin. His childhood bully. But that didn't matter anymore. They both had matured since middle school and Edd felt so lucky that Kevin had chosen cooking class. If he hadn't, they wouldn't be having such a moment and that thought almost made Double D's heart ache. Even if he didn't take the class, perhaps Edd would have connected with Kevin eventually through Nat.

_Oh, Nathan_. The sockhead sighed. The planetarium was Nat's idea and Double D felt grateful for his friend's thoughtfulness. He smiled at the redhead sitting next to him.

"Nice evening so far?" Kevin asked in a whisper.

Double D shyly smiled and nodded. "It has been."

* * *

They made their way back to the cul-de-sac around eight-thirty PM. Edd felt exhausted. He yawned quietly as they walked up to his front door and Kevin smiled at the sound.

"I'm glad you had fun," he said to the sockhead.

Double D nodded. "Very much. Thank you for making tonight very enjoyable."

Kevin's stomach fluttered as he stared into Edd's deep blue eyes. He smirked lopsidedly and shrugged. "Y-yeah. I tried my best."

Edd brought his hand up to his mouth and giggled. "And what a success it was."

The redhead chuckled. "Thanks. I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Yes. Goodni-" The sockhead's eyes widened with surprise as he felt lips make contact with his cheek, causing it to warm up.

Kevin smiled and stepped back. "Goodnight, Double D." He turned and headed back to his house.

Double D bit his lower lip nervously as he smiled big. Feeling giddy, he unlocked the front door and stepped inside. He allowed himself to lean against it and sigh with content. As he walked up the stairs, he took out his cell phone from his pocket and found he had two new messages. One from Eddy saying 'good luck!' and one from Nat. _'Hope you have an awesome date with Kevin. Take care of him for me.' _It was sent just before he and Kevin arrived at the burger joint and he suddenly felt guilt from not seeing it earlier. He entered his bedroom and texted back.

Edd: My apologies for not seeing your message earlier. I did indeed have a splendid time with Kevin. I'm sure he can take care of himself, but I will try my best.

Nat was lying on his bed, listening to music on his phone when the message interrupted the song. He growled a little and opened up the text. _Splendid time with Kevin, huh? _Well, that was just great to know. The green-haired teen almost didn't want to reply, but he did anyway.

Nathan: Thanks Double Dude. I wouldn't wanna see him or you hurt, but you did promise me that you wouldn't let anyone take advantage of you, so you better keep your word.

Edd: Yes, I did promise, and I intend on keeping my word.

Nat smiled slightly as he read the text and put his phone back down on his stomach. He put his hands behind his head and stared up at his ceiling. His phone vibrated again. With a sigh, he read the message.

Edd: Goodnight, Nathan. :)

The freckled teen tried not grinning, but it happened anyway.

Nathan: Night Edd. Sweet dreams.


	7. Chapter seven

A/N: I noticed a made a mistake with the first football game. In chapter 3, I meant to say two weeks away, but I put a week away. Yeah, fail. So to not be confused, their first game is barely going to happen in the next chapter. lol sorry. I went back and fixed it now, but I'm a little upset that I forgot to edit that part before I posted it. I don't think any of you noticed, but I felt the need to say it anyway.

But anyways, I posted this chapter early as a way of me saying "Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following this."

Side note: I've been in Nat's situation before, so the way he's feeling, his thoughts, and everything, it's a reflection of myself when I was in that situation.

Enjoy ~

Nat belongs to the amazing Acid. :)

* * *

Eddward tossed and turned all throughout Sunday night. The memory of Friday was still fresh in his mind. Over the weekend, Kevin was mostly gone; busy with football practice. The sockhead was excited for Monday morning, to be able to finally come in contact with his... what the hell were they? They had one date, so surely they weren't quite official yet, but Edd didn't really know if labeling Kevin "just a friend" was enough. Double D sighed at the thought. Now he definitely couldn't get any sleep. He checked his phone for the time; almost five-thirty in the morning. Usually, he would wake at six. Half an hour wouldn't make much a difference to him.

Edd got up and made his bed. His parents were still asleep, so he quietly made his way into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He brushed his teeth thoroughly as he waited for the water to warm up, and when it did, he pulled off the black beanie from his head, allowing the messy black hair to stand up in different directions. The water patted down the soft locks and cascaded down the rest of his body, making his eyes yearn for sleep at the comfortable feeling. He tried to fight the urge to not fall asleep right then and there. Bringing his thoughts to a certain redhead helped. A smile tugged at the corners of Double D's lips and the anxiousness grew with his heart's rate increasing.

Kevin woke up around an hour later. While Edd had his little morning routine, the redhead just did whatever he felt like doing first. He stumbled out of bed and headed downstairs for a bowl of cereal. A smile played on his lips as he poured the milk. Today he was going to see the Double Dweeb and that just sounded so nice. He ate slowly, the butterflies dancing in his stomach making him lose his appetite more and more by the second until he finally gave up trying and just headed back up the stairs for a quick cleansing.

Nat took the longest to get up. He lied on his bed, watching the time pass by, but he really didn't care. It was just going to be another boring day. The only thing he had to look forward to was Peach Creek High's first football that Friday. He was happy for Kevin. Good for him for finding someone who wasn't a bored girl that was just looking for temporary fun. But why did it have to be Edd? Then again, why not? It was like Nazz said, Double D was very likable. He had many great qualities and even his flaws were pretty amazing to Nat. The freckled teen allowed himself to lie in for another five minutes. _I'm happy for Kev, _he reminded himself, _he and Double Dude do make a cute couple. Yeah... and they kind of balance each other out_. Nat rolled his eyes and laughed at his own thoughts. He was letting it get to him too much. The two weren't exactly a couple yet. The possibility of them not happening was still out there, but he didn't want to think that way either. Oh, the struggle.

* * *

"Kevin," Edd said as he giggled. "We really should pay attention."

The jock scoffed and continued to playfully shove the lanky teen. "How about no?" He smirked.

Mrs. Finn was giving third period a demonstration on how to make creampuffs, but Double D was having a hard time concentrating with Kevin doing anything possible to get the sockhead's attention. Normally, Edd would find it annoying that someone was distracting him, but it was hard to get mad at Kevin when he just smiled and looked at Edd with his beautiful green eyes.

"But the teacher is speaking. We could get in trouble," Double D whispered.

"Ooh, I'm scared." Kevin widened his eyes to show his fake fear and he chuckled.

Edd smiled and gently shoved the redhead. Kevin gasped quietly and the sockhead erupted into more giggles.

Mrs. Finn stopped talking and looked up. "What is so amusing about this?" She asked the two teens.

Double D covered his mouth and looked at her with a sincerely apologetic expression. Kevin sighed and spoke up, "Sorry. We just remembered something that happened earlier." Edd nodded.

Mrs. Finn rolled her eyes and went back to her demonstration. Kevin reached over and gently rubbed Double D's hand. The sockhead flinched a bit at the contact, but he looked up at the jock and received a smile in which he returned. Kevin knew he would have to eventually tell his other friends about Edd if he wanted anything to happen between them that wasn't a secret. The sooner, the better, but that made Kevin's stomach feel unsettling. _What would the guys think... _

When lunch rolled around, he met up with Nat to discuss his dilemma.

"Just relax, man," Nat told him. "I had to tell them about me, remember? And they didn't care."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "No. They gave you shit for it for like two months. _Remember_ that?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "But they don't care anymore, do they?"

Kevin began to chew on his lower lip and shrugged.

"Look man," Nat said. "If you really do like Edd, you wouldn't care about what others think."

"Yeah, but-"

"There shouldn't be any buts, Kevin... well, unless we're talking about actual butts." The freckled teen grinned.

Kevin chuckled slightly and shook his head.

"We'll meet you at the table!" Eddy said as he and Ed quickly made their way to the lunch line, shoving people out of the way.

"Be careful, you two!" A voice said to them. "You could hurt someone."

Kevin and Nat turned around to see that it was Edd - no surprise. The two smiled at the sight of the sockhead glaring at his two best friends. Double D noticed them from his peripheral vision and turned to face them. He smiled and waved at them. They both waved back at him until Kevin looked over at Nat and said, "Dude, I think he's waving at me."

Nathan muttered "Oh" and slowly put his hand down. Edd began walking over to them.

"Just don't be ashamed of him," Nat whispered to Kevin.

"I'm not ashamed," Kevin angrily mumbled back.

"Salutations, gentlemen," Double D greeted them once he reached them.

The redhead swallowed hard and smiled before looking away. He rubbed the back of his neck and still not facing the sockhead, he shyly said, "Hey, Edd."

Nat tried hiding the annoyance he felt with Kevin's behavior by starting a conversation with Edd. "Hey man. How was your weekend?"

Double D's face brightened. "The usual. I worked on homework and helped Ed with his. Nothing too exciting." He smiled. "I hope practice wasn't too hard on you two."

"It kind of was." Nat shrugged. "But hey, we got through it, right Kev?" The freckled teen grinned and nudged his best friend, but Kevin just narrowed his eyes at him. "What?" Nat whispered.

The redhead sighed and looked at Edd. "So, Double D, you doing anything after school? I mean, I know I have more practice today, but maybe after I get out?"

_Greaaat, _Nathan thought. "But!" He shouted, getting both their attention. "Double dude," he said, "I was going to ask if we could do homework together."

Kevin furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, really?"

Nat ignored him and smiled at Edd. The sockhead stared at them with wide eyes.

"Well," Edd said. "I-I..." _Oh my._

The two teens stared at him, waiting for the answer to the unsaid question. No one said he had to choose, but it was evident that's what they wanted the sockhead to do. Eddward nervously fidgeted his fingers, suddenly wishing he was anywhere but there. How could answer them? Of course he wanted to spend more time with Kevin, but Nat... Nat was his friend and he enjoyed hanging out with him as well. A lot.

"You see," he began, "I will have to decline both your offers." Kevin and Nat frowned. "Ed and Eddy have already asked me to help them with something after school and I'm afraid I cannot change my plans now. They are my best friends."

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, I hear ya. It's cool. Maybe tomorrow or whenever you have time. Just hit me up." He looked at Nathan with a glare and sighed through his nose.

Nat grinned at him for a moment before turning his attention on Edd. "Same here."

"Sockhead!" Eddy called out. "Come on!"

Double D nodded and called back, "Coming!"

He smiled at Kevin and Nat. "Excuse me, gentlemen." And with that, he was gone.

"Now it's our turn to get food!" Nathan turned but he only took one step. Kevin stopped him by grabbing his arm and yanking him back. "Aye, aye, man!" The freckled teen said with a sneer on his face. "You're gonna wrinkle my shirt."

"What the hell was that all about?" Kevin asked him, his tone angry. "I was trying to get myself some time alone with him and you bring up that bullshit about doing homework with him?"

"He's my friend, too, Kevin. I can hang out with him if I want to." Nat shrugged nonchalantly. "The dude asked me on Friday if I was uncomfortable with you two getting close. I just wanna let him know that I'm cool with it."

The redhead sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry, Nat. You're right. I'm just..." He rolled his eyes. "I just got a little jealous."

"Why? He likes you. Not..." Nat licked his lips and looked down. "Not me."

"Yeah, but you two are good friends, better friends than I am with him and I've known him since we were kids." Kevin didn't wait for Nat to say anything. He patted the green-haired teen's back and said, "So, food?"

* * *

"They both asked me to spend time with them later," Edd said to Eddy as they made their way home. "I was stuck between choosing one of them."

"So, who _did _you choose?"

"I might have lied. I said I would be helping you two with something."

Eddy grinned. "That doesn't have to be a lie. We can hang out, ya know?"

"On a school night?"

"Oh, _come_ _on_, Double D. Don't be such a goody-goody all the time."

Edd crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuse me, Eddy, but I can very much rebel as much as you do."

"Sure you can."

"Then let's hang out!" Double D shouted. "Ed, what would you like to do?"

Ed smiled excitedly. "I want to do whatever you want, Double D."

"No!" Eddy answered. "You give the power to Sockhead and he'll choose the most educational thing to do."

"Aw, but Double D never gets to choose."

Eddward smiled at Ed. "I don't mind."

Eddy pulled into his driveway and turned off the car. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Double D. We can do whatever you want. So, go ahead." He smirked.

Double D sat in silence for a few seconds, his eyebrows going together as if he was deep in thought. "If you have feelings for someone, you would gladly accept their invitation to hang out, correct?"

"Are you mad that you didn't say 'yes' to Kevin?"

"A bit disappointed in myself. I really did want to say 'yes', but Nathan-"

"Who cares about that teal hair freak? Don't let him stop you from hanging out with Kevin."

"But Eddy," Ed said with a pout. "Nat is really nice and funny. You shouldn't speak mean about him."

"And he's my friend," Edd added. "Therefore, I do care about him." The sockhead sighed and looked out the window. "I wanted to say 'yes' to both."

Eddy opened the car door and stepped out. Ed did the same.

"Come on, Double D," the shortest Ed said. "Let's get inside."

The trio headed in through the backdoor that led into Eddy's room since Eddy had forgotten the key to the front door. That room hadn't change a bit since middle school. The only difference were posters of swimsuit models now hung on the walls. They made their way to the living room and Ed immediately clicked on the TV. He sat down on the couch and patted the space next to him, smiling wide at Double D. The sockhead giggled and happily took his seat next to his tall friend. Eddy handed them each a cold soda and sat down.

"He has a thing for you, you know," Eddy said, almost too quietly but Double D heard him.

"Who, exactly?" Double D asked.

"Nat!" Ed answered as he leapt up from his seat with joy in his eyes. "He looks at you with big googly eyes. We've seen it before! In the hallways, when you two talk to each other." He giggled.

"Yep." Eddy nodded.

"That's nonsense," Double D told them. "Nathan is my friend."

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about him more than a friend at least once before," Eddy said.

The sockhead's eyes widened and he quickly turned away so they wouldn't see. "I haven't. Not once. Not ever," his words were a bit of a slur.

"Positive about that, Sockhead?"

"You can't lie to us!" Ed chimed in.

Edd sighed. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because," Eddy started, "before when you would talk about him, you would get this look in your eyes like..." He raised his hands up and shrugged, "Like you discovered a new bug or something."

"Oh, please." Double D scowled at his friends.

"Well if you say you don't like the guy, then fine. We'll believe you. But he has a thing for you and that's probably why he put you in that situation today." Eddy opened the can and took a sip. He licked his lips and continued talking, "He might not be able to get enough of you and he's jealous that you and Kevin are-"

"No!" Edd blurted. "I asked him if he didn't like the idea of Kevin and I together and he said it didn't bother him."

"Oh jeez, Sockhead. What was he going to say? Kevin's his best friend. He's gonna pretend to be happy for you guys, but that's not going to stop him from trying to squeeze in some alone time with you. Better friends than nothing at all, right?" Eddy smirked.

Double D shook his head. "You're making assumptions."

"Probably. Anyways, Ed! Change the channel. I'm tired of watching this stupid cartoon."

"Okay, Eddy!" Ed grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels. "Tell me when to stop."

"It doesn't even matter," Edd said with a sigh, getting Ed and Eddy to look at him with a bewilderment in their eyes. "Nothing will ever happen between us. I only see him as a friend." The sockhead slumped a little lower into the couch and stared at the television set. Ed and Eddy raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances.

"Then why are you still talking about it?" Eddy asked.


	8. Chapter eight

A/N: Goodness, the reviews and messages I receive on this fic. It's so amazing and encouraging and makes me just want to post a new chapter everyday so none of you have to wait, but I can't write that fast. Well okay, I can, but I like taking my time, to make sure it's good.

But this one was posted a day early. I thought I'd be finished by tonight, but I finished last night, so yay ~

Nat belongs to Acid ^_^

* * *

Eddward was letting himself sink lower into the couch, but Ed and Eddy continued to stare at the sockhead, demanding an answer with their eyes. Could Edd tell them? He sighed and sat up again.

"I may have kissed him," he said, his voice very soft and quiet that Eddy leaned in closer.

"What?" The shortest Ed asked.

Double D gulped. "I may have kissed him."

Eddy's eyes widened. "Greenie?!" When Edd did nothing but chew on his lower lip, Eddy went on, "Are you serious?! When?"

"So you have googly eyes for Nat, too, Double D?" Ed asked, his face lighting up with amusement.

Double D attempted to do his favorite 'cover half my face with my beanie' trick, but Eddy grabbed his wrists to stop him. "Sockhead, you gotta tell us!"

"And why is that?" Edd asked, pulling his wrists free.

"Because it'll prove my point right, that you do feel something for the guy... for some reason."

"It does not prove anything." The sockhead sighed and crossed his arms. "It was a mistake. But I've been wondering, should I tell Kevin about it?"

"No!" Ed and Eddy shouted in unison.

"Are you crazy, Double D?" Eddy asked. "You tell Kevin and you'll ruin their friendsh-" He paused and smirked. "Hey, that can actually be kinda funny."

"Double D, you cannot tell Kevin," Ed said, practically leaping up to his feet. "Because he will get jealous and think you don't like him as much as he likes you."

Eddward thought about it and shrugged. "I suppose you're right. I wouldn't want to cause any moral discords." _Though I fear I might have caused myself a conflict of my own. _He shook his head. The plausibility that Nathan could have feelings for him was going to linger in his mind until he knew the truth, but knowing the answer may not resolve anything. Double D didn't want to figure that out. What if he felt himself feeling the same? He was the one to kiss Nat and he knew there was a real reason for that, but he wanted to avoid that reason as much as he could for the sake of Kevin and Nat's friendship. He couldn't get in between those two. They were like brothers who trusted and confided in each other and they didn't need someone like Edd destroying that bond.

Double D knew what he had to do. He was more than sure he had feelings for Kevin and he was going to stick to concentrating on those feelings and those feelings only. He wasn't going to contemplate whatever it was he had for the freckled teen. Nat couldn't have any sort of crush on him. _Nonsense_, Edd thought, _he would have said something during... the moment... if he did. _The blue-eyed teen furrowed his eyebrows and rolled his eyes. _Certainly he would have_.

* * *

The football players headed into the locker room after practice. They all threw off their clothes before stepping under the refreshing water from the shower heads. Kevin set his football helmet down on the bench by his locker and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I fucking hate how these helmets mess up my hair," Nat complained.

"Who cares?" Kevin smirked. "You're gonna shower anyway."

"Yeah, but after football games when I'm trying to impress someone, I'm gonna have helmet hair and that's not cool."

The redhead chuckled and started undressing himself.

"So, Kev," Charlie spoke. "What did you do Friday night?"

Kevin stopped for a moment, his mouth opening slowly. He looked over at Nat as if hoping his best friend could make the question go away. Nat narrowed his bright yellow eyes at Kevin.

"Went out with a friend," The redhead finally slurred out after noticing that the look on Nat's face was just telling him to be honest, but he didn't have the courage to do so.

"What kind of friend?" His teammate, Ryan, asked with a grin.

Kevin could feel the pounding in his chest increase. He finished taking off his football uniform and turned on one of the free showers. The water roughly hit his face and he shut his eyes tight. He still hadn't answer the question. A light red flushed over his cheeks as he turned away from the water, letting his hair get wet.

"Damn!" Charlie clapped. "Do you see that, guys? He's blushing!"

"Aw shit, Kev!" The others teased.

Kevin rolled his eyes and began to scrub some shampoo into his short hair. Nat took the shower next to him and watched as the expression on his face dissolved into a look of despair.

"She must be special, then," Stephen added. "Who is it?"

The redhead sighed and looked at Nathan with pleading eyes.

The green-haired teen sighed through his nose and said, "It doesn't have to be a girl."

Almost complete silence fell in the locker room, the only sound being the water falling from the shower heads and onto the floor. All eyes went to Kevin and just stayed there, waiting for him to say something; anything. Kevin looked down at his feet and muttered, "Fuck" under his breath. He quickly rinsed the shampoo from his hair and turned off the water. He wrapped his towel around his waist but before he could attempt to walk away, Nat grabbed his arm.

Kevin turned and glared at his best friend. "How could you-"

"Trust me."

"You're into a guy?" Charlie asked.

The redhead licked his lips and yanked his arm free from Nat's grip. Jack furrowed his eyebrows and made his way over.

"Really, Barr?" The team captain asked, but Kevin didn't respond.

Stephen stepped up and said to the redhead, "It's cool if you are." He looked over at everyone else. "Right, guys? I mean, Nat's into guys, too, and we were complete shitheads to him, but he's still just Nat, the fucking king." The brunet smiled at Nat and swung his around his neck. "So, that means, Kevin's still the same."

Kevin sighed and looked up at everyone. They remained silent for another few seconds, but then, they nodded.

"Yeah," Jack said. "We're cool with it."

"Thanks, but I still like girls," Kevin told them. "This guy... he's the first and only guy I've... well, ya know." He shrugged.

"Is it Nat?" Stephen asked, grinning at the freckled teen.

Nat grinned back, but shook his head. "Nah. Kevin doesn't have amazing taste."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I'm just gonna go get dressed."

* * *

Double D waved goodbye to his friends as he walked out of Eddy's house. He closed the door behind him and quickly fished his phone out of his pocket.

Edd: Greetings, Kevin. I'm no longer busy and if you're still willing, we could spend some time together.

The redhead was just about to get on his motorcycle when the text message came in. He checked it real quick and a smile curved up on his face.

Kevin: Yeah, alright. I'll be right over.

He quietly cheered to himself and hopped onto his vehicle. Edd wanted to jump with all the giddiness that was filling his insides. He quickly walked over to his house to freshen up before Kevin got there, which would only take a few more minutes. The sockhead went into the bathroom, looked himself over before the doorbell rang. And upon hearing that sound, a loud gasp escaped Double D. His knees felt wobbly as he made his way back down the stairs and up to the front door.

Kevin stood on the other side, looking down at his feet with his thumbs inside the pockets of his jeans. His head slowly rose to meet Edd's gaze and he smiled. Double D flashed the redhead a nervous, gap-toothed filled smile back and stepped aside, allowing Kevin to walk in. Edd closed the door once Kevin was inside and sighed, trying to let the nerves out, but the butterflies just kept coming. They made their way to the couch and sat down, but Edd immediately stood up again.

"Where are my manners?" He giggled. "Would you like anything to drink?"

Kevin smirked and shook his head. "I'm good. Thanks."

Double D sat back down. An awkward silence washed over them and Kevin scrunched up his nose. That was not how he wanted to spend the night with the dweeb.

"Hey," he said finally. "So, whataya wanna do?"

Edd's eyes shifted from Kevin to his homework on the coffee table, but he didn't answer.

Kevin got the hint and smiled. "Sure, we can do homework." Eddward's face lit up.

The redhead took out his binder from his backpack as the sockhead reached over and grabbed his things. He turned on the TV and they began working on their assignments, small talk as they did so. This wasn't ideal to Kevin, but if it made Edd happy, he was all for it. But around half an hour later, he couldn't pretend to enjoy himself anymore.

Double D was excitedly writing in his answers. Kevin had a smug grin on his face as he scooted closer to the sockhead. Edd didn't notice until the redhead ran fingers up his arm. Double D dropped his pencil and stiffened as he looked over.

"May I help you with something, Kevin?" He asked.

Kevin chuckled and leaned in a little. "Maybe." His voice was low and his emerald eyes sparkled, making Edd's heart leap in his chest.

"Are you trying to distract me?" The sockhead asked.

Fingers traced against Edd's jaw line as Kevin bit down on his lower lip. "Now why would I do that?"

Double D could feel his face turning bright red. Kevin's warm breath brushed against his face, making him hold his.

"It does seem as if you are," he practically squeaked.

"I'm not." But Kevin smirked and closed the small gap between their faces.

Edd had to grab Kevin's shoulders to keep himself from falling back as lips collided with his. It was slow, but rough. The kiss so audible as lips smacked against each other like they could never get enough. They pulled apart, breathless, staring at each other with wide eyes and lips parted slightly. This all felt so right; the fast racing hearts, the clenching feel in the lower abdomen. It was everything to prove to Double D how deep his feelings for the redhead were. He let go of Kevin's shoulders and grabbed hold of his shirt instead, using it to pull him forward and their lips met again.

Their mouths opened and Kevin took Edd's lower lip between his teeth, tugging it ever-so-gently, receiving a groan from Double D. Kevin let it go and grinned before kissing him again. The sockhead released Kevin's shirt and wrapped his arms around his neck, sighing against the other's lips as a tongue swiped against his bottom lip. It was no doing homework, but it was so much better.

* * *

Kevin sauntered his way into Peach Creek high, a huge grin on his face. He greeted everyone he knew from how great of a mood he was in. Some seemed surprised to get a 'Hey, what's up!' from the jock, but they gladly accepted it. The redhead kept his eye out for Nat. He had to tell him about his night, thinking Nat would be more than elated for him. Bright teal hair came into his view at the end of the hall. Kevin quickly made his over.

"Nathan Kedd Goldberg!" The redhead wrapped his arms tightly around his best friend. "Man, I love you. Do you know that?"

Nat furrowed his eyebrows but he smiled at Kevin. "I love you, too, Kev." He patted Kevin's hands and grinned. "Dude, you never show me affection. I like it."

Kevin laughed and let go. "I'll show you all the affection your fucking beautiful heart desires if ya want."

The freckled teen frowned. "Alright, what have you done with my best friend?"

"It's still me, Nat!" Kevin sighed contently and smiled lopsidedly. "I just..." He shrugged. "I had a good night."

Nat's eyes brightened and he smirked. "Do tell."

"After I left the locker room, I got a text from Edd." Kevin sounded and looked so proud, but Nat's smirk was immediately replaced by a frown.

"And... what happened?" He asked Kevin anyway, despite not wanting to know.

"Well." Kevin straightened himself up as if he was getting ready to run a marathon. He rubbed his hands together and said, "We did homework and then-"

"Wait," Nat interrupted, holding his hand up. "You did homework together?" His face was telling a story of a lost boy.

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"

"Oh..." Nathan shook his head and forced the corners of his lips to rise. "It's nothing, just that was kind of our thing."

Kevin blinked. He wasn't sure if his best friend was being serious or not, so he laughed a little, but when Nat didn't laugh back, he cleared his throat.

"Uh, I'm sorry?" He offered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Nat just barely smiled and said, "It's cool. No big deal."

* * *

I have been asked what my Natedd playlist is, so here ya go ~

Note that it's probably not finished, because I keep randomly adding in a song and you're more than welcome to suggest a song to me. :)

1. About A Girl - The Academy Is

2. Thinking Of You - Pete Yorn

3. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

4. Damn Your Eyes - Alex Clare

5. Find Your Love - Drake

6. So Obvious - Runner Runner

7. Say You Like Me - We The Kings

8. Let Me Love You - Mario (thanks to , tee hee ~)

9. Got It All Wrong - Wakey!Wakey!

10. Square Peg Round Hole - Wakey!Wakey!

11. Dance So Good - Wakey!Wakey!

12. Almost Everything - Wakey!Wakey! (These last four were introduced to me by my amazing friend Jes :D )

There is one more song, but I can't reveal it, because it'll actually give away the ending.


	9. Chapter nine

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the positive feedback. I appreciate each and every one of you sweeties and wow, thanks for all the song suggestions. They're all so great and if you still have more, I'd love to hear them. Man, send as much as you want. I love music!

Nat belongs to Acid ^_^

* * *

Kevin went on and on about how incredible his night with Edd had been. The kiss that was better than any other kisses he had before, the way Double D smiled against his lips, his sweet scent. Yeah, it all sounded nice and Nat struggled with keeping the smile on his face while he listened to the redhead.

"That's my Kev," Nat said, trying to sound truly happy for his best friend.

Kevin grinned and held his head high. "Thanks, Nat." He looked over and saw Edd with the other two Eds. Double D seemed uninterested in something Eddy was telling him. Kevin smiled and looked at Nat. "I'll see you later, alright?"

Nat nodded and watched his best friend walk over to his crush, but he turned away before he could see Kevin kiss Edd's cheek. Not everyone could always get what he wanted. Nat grew up in a wealthy home, he got what he wanted, but he was not spoiled. If he didn't get something, he'd get over it and sometimes when he did get something he really wanted, he'd grow bored of it quick. But not Eddward. Edd was something he wanted and he could not get over it. He knew that if he got the sockhead, he would not grow bored of him. How could he when Double D was filled with such knowledge, enough to literally teach Nat something new and different everyday? Hell, he was just friends with the guy and Nat was already entertained with Edd. But he couldn't be. Allowing the sockhead to get under his skin in such a way was only going to do more trouble to his mind and feelings.

Kevin walked passed Nat with Edd and smiled at his best friend. Nat returned the smile, but when Double D tried to, Nat quickly walked off. Double D blinked. _Was that intentional_, he wondered. He furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the green-haired teen disappear around a corner. It didn't seem like Nat to not greet him. Nat loved acknowledging everyone for the sake of being acknowledged himself. Edd shrugged it off, but each time during a passing period when he attempted to say 'hello', Nat would pretend he didn't see him, openly ignoring him as he kept walking. It happened at lunch as well. Kevin and Edd waited in line together, Edd purposely not packing himself food from home so he could have that excuse to wait with the redhead.

Nat started walking over, sporting his trademark grin, but he wiped it away the moment he noticed Edd. Double D turned and smiled at him, but the freckled teen turned on his heel and headed over to his usual table. And that's when Edd realized... he was being avoided. There was no need to question it. Nat obviously didn't want to communicate with the sockhead, he made it pretty damn clear. Something in Edd's stomach turned. _Is Eddy right? _He sighed loudly.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked, catching the other off guard.

Double D pulled his attention away from Nat and faced Kevin. The corners of his lips slowly rose. "Yes, of course."

* * *

The football game. The first football game was all that mattered to Nathan. He wanted to play out all the emotions that were running through him. He never allowed anything to get to him. When his mother left, he let himself be weak, but ever since that, he didn't want to show anything but a smile. And even though he was deeply annoyed with Kevin and Edd being such lovebirds, he still grinned and congratulated Kevin. That's what best friends do. But he was holding in so much that he was confident that putting in all his frustration into playing was going to surely make Peach Creek win.

When Friday approached, he was pumped and helped his teammates get into a more spirited mood.

"Come on, guys!" He told them just before the game as they were huddled together. "We're gonna be badass!" A grin spread across his face.

Usually it was Jack or the coach who did the pep talking, but no one complained. Nathan had the right energy for it.

"Hell yeah!" Kevin chimed in and the others joined by clapping.

They pulled apart and waited for the signal to run into the field. Kevin's hands shook. Nat noticed and grabbed one of them, squeezing it gently. The redhead looked over at him and smiled.

"Dude, we got this," Nat told him.

Kevin squeezed Nat's hand back and nodded.

"Is... Edd here?" The freckled teen asked in such a soft tone.

"Yeah," Kevin answered.

They faced forward and hands were let go. Edd wasn't into sports. He was on the football team in middle school and he wasn't so fond of it since he didn't even know how to play. But as always, Kevin had a way with looking at him with those mesmerizing green eyes that made it impossible to say no. So there he sat, next to Ed and Eddy, who happily accompanied him. It was an excuse for them to see cheerleaders and other girls who weren't with dates. Edd didn't mind their reasons. He just didn't want to sit alone.

The game began and Double D's eyes immediately searched for Kevin; number nine. He tried keeping his sight on the redhead, but he kept finding himself distracted by a certain number fourteen. And when number fourteen was tackled roughly to the ground, Edd winced.

"Oh, dear," he said softly, "Poor Nathan."

"Yeah, that seemed like it actually hurt," Eddy commented.

Nat groaned a little as he rolled over onto his side. Kevin ran over and slide down on his knees.

"Nat!" He shook his best friend. "You alright, man?"

The referee blew his whistle and jogged over to Nat's side. "Everything alright, son?"

Edd gasped. "Oh, my. I think he's really hurt."

"That quick?" Eddy scoffed. "The game has only been going on for twenty minutes."

Nathan looked up at everyone standing around him and nodded. He removed his mouthpiece and smirked. "I'm cool, guys."

His teammates sighed in relief and Kevin held out his hand. Nat took it and the redhead yanked him up.

"We got this," Kevin told him.

The green-haired teen nodded and the game started up again. This time, Edd only paid attention to Kevin and he was amazed that he actually sat through three hours of high school football. Peach Creek barely won by one point and that irritated Nat. He felt he could have done better, but there was too much on his mind that he couldn't quite concentrate as well as he originally thought. Everyone began leaving. Edd waited until most of them left before getting up and joining Kevin on the field. Kevin's face brightened and he grinned when he saw the sockhead coming towards him.

"How'd I do?" He asked Double D.

"Excellent," Double D responded with a smile.

The redhead chuckled. He grabbed him by the biceps and pulled him closer to him, capturing his lips with his own. Edd squeaked a little, but he relaxed and brought his hands up to rest on Kevin's chest. Nat was congratulating his teammates when he looked over to see the two kissing. The smile on his face faded as he stood there, staring at them in disbelief. They were getting more public each day, which just meant they were getting serious.

"Nat!" Charlie called.

The green-haired forced himself to turn. "What's up?"

"Let's go change. Get Kevin."

Nat furrowed his eyebrows and looked back over where Kevin was still kissing Edd. He shook his head and faced Charlie again. "He'll come eventually." He ran over to join his teammates. Nazz stopped him before he could enter the locker room and swiftly kissed his cheek.

"You were amazing, Nat," she said sweetly.

Nat grinned at her and left. He changed into his normal clothes faster than any of his teammates and wanted to be out of there before Kevin got in.

"Hey, Nat!" Jack shouted. "Where ya going? We won. We're going to celebrate."

"Yeah, I know... but-"

Kevin walked in and noticed his best friend getting ready to leave. He raised an eyebrow. "You're leaving? Why?"

Now everyone had their eyes on Nat.

Nathan shrugged. "Just not feelin' like it tonight."

"Are you serious?" Kevin shook his head and walked over to him. "Is something wrong?" He made sure to ask that in a low enough voice for only the two of them to hear.

Nat nodded and pushed open the door. The guys stood there bewildered, watching as the green-haired teen left them.

* * *

Edd hung out with Kevin during the weekend. Nat stayed home and tried to keep himself entertained with video games, but he was actually finding himself wanting school to come. On Monday morning, Edd hung with Ed and Eddy at Eddy's locker. They were talking about the football game. Nathan saw them and wanted to avoid them, but Double D looked up and saw him.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Edd said to his friends before quickly walking over to join Nat by his side. "Nathan, may I ask you something?"

Nat sighed, but nodded.

"Are you feeling okay?" The sockhead asked. "I only ask due to the fact that you haven't been yourself lately."

_Of course_, Nathan just shrugged and walked away from Double D. He couldn't help but feel bad about it. Eddy squinted his eyes at the green-haired teen and as Edd returned, he said, "I'll be right back, guys." He shut his locker and went after Nat.

Double D didn't look to see where his friend was going. He simply listened to the silly story Ed had to tell.

"Hey Greenie!" Eddy called out.

Nat looked over his shoulder and grinned, continuing to walk. "Hey shorty."

Eddy rolled his eyes and walked faster to catch up. "I know what's bothering you."

"Don't know what you're talking about, dude. Nothing's wrong." Nathan shrugged and kept grinning.

"So, you're telling me you don't like Sockhead?"

The question made Nat stop in his tracks. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at the shorter teen. "Double Dude?" He snorted a laugh. "Why would-"

"Oh, come on!" Eddy shook his head. "It's fucking obvious."

Nathan smirked and patted Eddy's head. "Yeah, go ahead and keep thinking you know everything." He chuckled and turned back around, leaving Eddy there as he quickly walked off.

Eddy laughed to himself and returned to his friends. Double D wanted to ask Eddy where he went, but he chose not to in the end.

* * *

Even though it was a school night, the football team wanted a proper celebration with Nat actually there. After school, the guys headed off to Denny's. Some of the guys brought along dates. Kevin brought Edd and Nat knew that he would ahead of time, so he brought a girl from his English class. She was a short petite girl with hair as dark as Edd's. The girl had a thing for Nat and knowing that, Nat decided to take her. She was pretty cute, anyways. They sat at a large table and their waiter came by and their drinks orders.

"Should we get appetizers?" Stephen asked.

"Yeah," Kevin said. "I want some freaking mozzarella sticks."

"We could get the sampler," Ryan suggested.

They nodded and decided on that. Their waiter returned with the drinks and asked if they were ready to order.

"Yeah, we'll start with three samplers," Jack told him. "And I'll have the mushroom Swiss burger."

The waiter nodded and wrote that down. Most of the table ordered the same thing.

"I'm getting the club sandwich," Nat said.

"As am I," Double D told the waiter.

Nat furrowed his eyebrows a little at the sockhead sitting across from him, but he remained silent. Why was he getting mad over the fact that Edd wanted the same thing as him? He shook his head and took a sip of his Coke.

"What are you getting, Amanda?" He asked his date.

Amanda smiled and looked at the waiter. "I'll have the chicken avocado sandwich."

The waiter wrote down the rest of the orders, then looked at Kevin who was having a hard time deciding. Everything looked so appetizing.

"I'll just go with the double cheeseburger," Kevin told him and the waiter left. The redhead looked at Double D and smiled.

"You all should really be eating healthier," Edd softly said.

"It's just one day." Kevin shrugged.

Nat didn't even realize he was staring at them until Amanda gently shoved him. He blinked and faced the blue-eyed girl.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked, a teasing smile playing on her lips.

"You." Nat grinned, but he watched Kevin and Edd laughing with each other from his peripheral vision and it caused an ache in his chest. He struggled to keep the smile on his face as he listened to Amanda tell him about herself. She was actually interesting, but Nat was too distracted by a certain couple openly flirting with each other across from them.

"So," Amanda said quite loudly, bringing his attention back. "Your turn."

The green-haired teen sighed and sat up. "What do you wanna know?"

"Hmm. How about... what made you suddenly want to ask me out?" She smiled a little crookedly.

"I would have asked you sooner, babe," Nat told her. "I just haven't gotten around to wanting to date anyone."

Amanda brought her hands up to cover her mouth as she giggled. "I get what you mean. I was like that last year after my breakup." She sighed and twirled a strand of black hair around her finger.

"Rough breakup?" Nat asked and she nodded.

With Kevin distracted in a conversation with his teammate Jason, Edd looked over to see Nat and Amanda talking.

"Yeah," Amanda said, answering Nat's question, "but I'm definitely over it now, and I'm glad you asked me to come with you tonight. I think it's what I really need." She released the strand of hair and gently caressed Nat's cheek. "You know, I've never seen freckles look as cute as they do on you."

Nat grinned. Edd blinked and raised his eyebrows. A little pang of jealousy started forming inside him and he quickly looked away. Their food arrived and though everyone talked cheerfully as they ate, Edd was mostly silent. He looked up from his club sandwich to see Amanda feeding Nat a french fry. Double D rolled his eyes and continued eating his food in silence. Once they were done, they sat and talked some more before asking for the check. Each pitched in, paying for their own meal. Except the guys with dates also made sure paid for them. It wouldn't be right if they allowed their dates to pay, so Kevin did pay for Double D.

"You didn't have to," Edd told him as they got up from their seats.

"Yeah, I did," Kevin said with a chuckle.

"Anyone wanna pee before we go?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Kevin said. He kissed Edd's forehead before walking after the team captain.

"Actually, me too!" Ryan said and the other guys, except Nat and Edd, mumbled "Yeah" as they followed Ryan to the restrooms.

"Hey, I'm going to go use the restroom, too," Amanda told Nat. She looked at the other girls. "Wanna come?" They nodded and headed over.

Double D's eyes widened as he realized he was left alone with Nathan. It didn't have to feel awkward, but with the way Nat had been acting, it was. And that felt horrible. They were such good friends... or at least were.

"We'll wait outside!" Nat called after them and turned to look at Edd. He shrugged a little and walked out of the building.

Double D hesitated a bit before following. He despised feeling this way around someone who was supposed to be his friend. Nat was being too quiet with him, avoiding and ignoring him and for what? Edd knew he had done nothing wrong to upset him.

"You do realize we are still friends, correct?" He said to the freckled teen.

Nat sighed and almost gave Edd a disgusted look, but he held it back. "Yeah," he said, sounding uninterested and annoyed.

Double D furrowed his eyebrows. "Then why do you treat me as if I'm some stranger?"

"Dude, I just don't wanna bother you and Kevin. That wouldn't be cool." Nat stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and frowned.

"But-"

"Hey," Nat's voice rose. "Not everyone stays close forever, _alright_?"

Edd stepped back, being surprised with Nat's tone. He sounded so fed up that Double D had no idea how to respond. _Perhaps I did upset him somehow..._ He thought, but he couldn't bring himself to ask, not after how Nat responded. The green-haired teen just continue to stare at him, those yellow eyes at him practically screaming to get the hell out of his sight. But inside, Nat wanted to rush over and take the sockhead into his arms, just hold him and apologize for being so rude, and he knew he could do that. It wouldn't do any harm. It would just be a friend hugging another friend, yet he couldn't get himself to move from his spot.

Edd finally sighed and nodded. "I see," he simply said.

Nat turned away, not able to stand the look on Double D's face. The others returned and started heading towards their cars. Amanda followed Nat back to his car while Double D went with Kevin to the motorcycle. Nathan glanced at Edd over his shoulder and sighed through his nose, the guilt rising up inside. Edd didn't deserve to be treated that way.

Kevin handed his spare helmet over to Double D and got on his motorcycle. Double D put on the helmet before slipping on the vehicle behind the redhead. He wrapped his arms around Kevin's waist and rested his head against his back. He saw Nat get into his car. His heart throbbed a bit as he recalled their short conversation. _'Not everyone stays close forever.' _Double D looked down at the ground. Although that was true, he still wondered what even went wrong between them. _'He has a thing for you, you know?'_ Eddy's words repeated in his mind.

Double D looked back up at Nat's car. Kevin turned on the motorcycle and started driving out of the parking lot. Edd faced forward and his eyes widened in realization. Yes. It all made sense. Nat was just fine with Edd until he and Kevin started dating. That's when the weird behavior began. Of course Nat would be jealous if his best friend was with his crush. It had to be that... right? Double D furrowed his eyebrows as another conclusion came to mind.

_Perhaps it isn't me he likes_, he told himself, _it could be Kevin_. A scowl came over his face and he held Kevin a little tighter. Edd thought about it. Nat definitely did like one of them, he was positive of that now, but he wasn't sure who. It made sense that Nat could have developed feelings for his best friend, that happened a lot, but then there was what Ed said. _'He looks at you with big googly eyes.' _Did Edd really want to find out? A part of him did, but another part didn't and he couldn't decide which part to go with. But he did know he wanted his friendship with Nat to survive.


	10. Chapter ten

A/N: Just want to say another thank you for reading this. I love you all! Six chapters left.

Nat belongs to Acid. :)

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the little outing. Two weeks since Edd and Nat's friendship went askew. Edd had wanted to speak to the freckled teen, perhaps straightforwardly ask him if he had feelings for Kevin, but every time he saw the opportunity, a nagging feeling inside him told him not to. He could only imagine how awkward the conversation would be. He couldn't just walk up to Nat and ask if he liked his... almost boyfriend. Almost. Because although it had been almost three weeks, Edd and Kevin still weren't quite official. Kevin was afraid of having the relationship become serious. He adored the sockhead, but he wanted to take things slow from fear that he would fuck up. He always felt like he fucked up when it came to someone he cared a lot about.

Double D understood that and it didn't bother him as much as his situation with Nat did. It was bothering Nat just as much. He felt as if he was handling everything in such a immature manner. He knew better than that. On Thursday as the bell for lunch to be over rang and he saw Kevin kissing Double D goodbye, Nat made his way over to the sockhead.

"Hey, man," Nat said, showing off his friendly grin.

Edd's eyes widened, surprised to see his friend in a good mood around him, but he stood still, not knowing how to respond. "H-hello... Nathan."

The green-haired teen sighed, hearing the uneasiness in Double D's voice. "I'm sorry for being such a shit with you."

"It's fine."

"It's not." Nat licked his lips and smiled. "Maybe you can go over to my house after I'm done with practice?"

Edd's eyebrows twitched together a little as he thought about it. One moment, Nathan wanted nothing to do with him, and now he was asking to hang out. Double D definitely didn't want to pass up the chance. He smiled and nodded.

"That sounds fine," he said.

Nat's eyes brightened. "Alright, Double Dude, see ya later then."

Edd smiled and nodded. He watched as the freckled teen walked off and disappeared into the crowd before going over to his locker.

"Hey Sockhead," Eddy greeted as he made his over.

Double D smiled at his best friend. "Salutations, Eddy. Where is Ed?"

"Eh, he went to class already. He didn't wanna risk getting another tardy."

"Oh." Double D sighed loudly and opened his locker.

Eddy raised an questioningly eyebrow at him. "What's with you?"

"Nathan." Edd pouted a little as he reached for his Pre-Calculus textbook.

The shorter teen shook his head. "What happened now?"

"I am going over to his house after he is finished with football practice and I'm not sure how to feel about this. I am a bit happy, considering this means we are still friends, but I have been thinking about what you said."

Eddy leaned his back against the lockers and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "About him liking you?"

Edd furrowed his eyes. "Y-yes. It made sense to me-"

"Finally," Eddy mumbled.

Double D sighed. "Yes, well... it made sense to me, because his stranger behavior began around the same time my courtship with Kevin started-"

"I'm glad you finally believe me."

"No, no." Double D shook his head. "Not precisely. You see, it may not be me. What if it's Kevin?"

Eddy pursed his lips, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Why is that so funny?" Edd asked him.

"Come _on_, Double D! Open your eyes."

The sockhead scowled at his best friend. "I intend on finding out this evening." He turned on his heel and started heading towards his class and Eddy followed.

"You can't just ask someone if they like you," the pudgier teen said. "Besides, I already asked him."

Edd gasped. He spun back around and stared wide-eyed at Eddy. "Oh, please tell me that's not true."

"It's true." Eddy shrugged. "I asked him a few weeks ago. He denied it. No surprise there. So, he'll just deny it again."

"Perhaps he denied it, because it is to be denied!"

Eddy blinked. "What?"

"It isn't true!" Edd huffed.

"You have no idea how much I'm going to laugh at you when you find out that it is."

"That will never happen." Double D smiled and quickly walked off.

Eddy rolled his eyes. "We'll see."

* * *

Nathan wondered if Edd had mentioned where he was going to Kevin, but Kevin didn't ask Nat anything during practice or afterwards in the locker room. All he said to his best friend was that he couldn't wait for the game. Nat hoped the redhead wouldn't find out. Edd was just his friend, but Kevin could take it the wrong way. The freckled teen quickly snuck away from his teammates and headed home. The car in the driveway caught him by surprise. His father was home. He quickly got out of his car and ran inside.

Mr. Goldberg was in the kitchen, talking on his cell phone, but he turned around and smiled slightly at his son. Nat stood in the doorway in awe. They lived together and all, but Nat barely saw his father. He grinned and took out his phone.

Nathan: Get yourself over here now, sweet cheeks.

Edd was with his friends when he received the text message. He looked over at Eddy with pleading eyes and Eddy already knew what the sockhead wanted.

"Yeah, whatever, I'll take you," Eddy told him.

Double D smiled as he stood up from the couch.

"Where are you going, Double D?" Ed asked.

"To Nathan's house," Double D told him.

Ed smiled wide. "What are you guys gonna do?"

"I suppose talk-"

"About what?!" Ed leaned forward in his seat to rest his chin on Double D's shoulder.

Edd sighed. "Please, Ed. Sit back in your seat and put on your seatbelt."

Eddy snickered and shook his head. "So, tell me when to turn. I don't even know where this guy lives."

Double D smiled at Ed who's chin was still on his shoulder. "Take a right turn, Eddy." He glanced over at his friend driving.

Meanwhile, Nat put his things away in his bedroom. He was about to head back down into the kitchen when he heard his father say he 'would be there soon'. Be where? Work? Nat frowned and slowly went down the black spiral staircase. Mr. Goldberg finally hung up on whoever he was talking to and turned around.

"I'll be back later tonight, Nathan," he said as he grabbed his briefcase and suit jacket.

Nat nodded. "Cool. Later." He didn't bother making any eye contact with him as he walked over to the refrigerator to grab a soda.

The front door opened and closed and he sighed in defeat. At least he had Edd coming. That was something to look forward to. He slurped some of his drink and walked into the spacious living room. He picked up one of the balls from the pool table and examined it. He hardly ever played anymore. Nat shrugged and let go of the ball, letting it roll across the table. He smirked in amusement when it fell into one of the holes.

Ding dong! His smirk quickly turned into a grin. He set his soda can down on one of the coasters on the glass coffee table before sauntering over to the front door. Edd waved goodbye to his friends as they drove off. The sound of the door opening made him flinch a little. He turned around and greeted Nat with a smile. Nat couldn't resist smiling back. He moved aside, allowing Double D to step in. Edd had been to Nat's house plenty of times, but the sight always amazed him. For starters, there was a lot of white and glass furniture. And the white was very bright. The floors were made of Brazilian oak. It looked so glossy that Edd asked if he should take his shoes off.

"I'm not like you," Nat told him. "Keep them on."

"But does your father mind?"

"No. And he's not even here, anyways."

"He isn't?"

Nat shook his head. "He went to work."

"He works quite a lot, doesn't he?"

"Yep."

Double D nodded and sighed. "That sounds awfully familiar to my parents."

"Yeah..." Nat grinned. "Guess we got something in common... we pretty much raise ourselves."

"I suppose so." Edd looked down sadly. It hurt that his parents were hardly ever around. He just wanted their company more than anything, but they were too busy for him, just like Mr. Goldberg was too busy for Nat.

Nat noticed Double D's expression and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, but hey! Look at us now, man. We turned out awesome!" He popped his collar up higher.

Double D giggled and Nat grinned even more.

"Come on, Double Dude," he said to the sockhead. "Let's go watch TV or something."

Edd followed the green-haired teen to the wide white couch. They sat down, leaving a reasonable amount of space between them. Nat turned on the sixty inch flat screen and began flipping through channels as he thought about what to say. Edd bit down on his lower lip. Suddenly asking Nat the _question_ seemed difficult. He fiddled with his fingers. It had to be now or never.

"Nathan..." he said softly.

Nat turned his head to face him. "Yeah?"

Edd looked down. "It's been on my mind and I just need to ask..." He took a deep breath. "Do you... have feelings..."

Nat's eyes widened and Edd continued, "For Kevin?" The freckled teen sighed in relief and relaxed. Good. A question he could answer without lying.

"You're asking me if I have a crush on my best friend?" Nathan grinned. "No. He's yours. Don't worry. I ain't gonna take him away from you." _And I won't take you away from him either._

Double D furrowed his eyebrows. "Then why have you been acting so strange?"

"I don't know." Nat shrugged. "I guess because I'm feeling a little lonely." He sat back and put his hands behind his head. "It's like everyone's got somebody and I'm just here, single as fuck." He scrunched up his nose. "And that sounded lame."

The corners of Edd's lips twitched up in a soft smile as he sat himself back as well. "Nathan, even if you don't have a particular somebody, you aren't lonely." Edd gently patted Nat's thigh. "I'm here."

The green-haired teen looked down at Double D's hand on his thigh before shifting his eyes up to stare into big blue eyes and his breathing felt as if it had stopped. It took him a few seconds to realize his mouth was open. He quickly closed it and swallowed hard. Edd moved his hand away and Nat felt his heart beat calm down.

"Thanks," he said in a soft tone and Double D smiled.

The sockhead moved closer to him and Nat felt the need to scoot away.

"I do have feelings for someone, though," he told Edd.

Edd's eyes brightened. "Who may that be?"

"Someone unavailable... but they're..." Nat looked away. He couldn't be facing Double D. "They're kind of perfect. Yeah, you can tell me there's no such thing as perfection, but this person... they're pretty damn close to it. Everything about them. I mean, this person is like a genius and they're passionate and they see the good in everyone. I don't think I've ever heard them judge anyone without getting to know them first." A smirk crept up on his face. "They can also be a real smart ass, but I guess their nice ass makes up for that." Nat peeked over at Edd who was staring at him, trying to figure him out.

After thinking over everything Nat had just said, Edd giggled, having no clue. "Well, they certainly do sound lovely."

The freckled teen made full eye contact now and smiled. "Yeah, they are. I didn't think I'd ever be into someone like that." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Actually, I think they're the only exception."

Edd blinked. "And why is that?"

"Because they're like one of a kind and... jeez, Edd! Stop making me jump into my soft side."

Double D brought his hand up to cover his mouth as he giggled some more. Nat laughed a little too. The confession felt good. Sure Edd had no idea it was him who Nat was talking about, but at least he got it out. They turned their attention to the long forgotten TV and Nat picked up the remote again. He flipped through the channels again before settling on some cartoons. Edd sighed.

"I know you said they were unavailable," he began and Nat looked at him, "But I do hope you can still somehow get your chance with them."

The green-haired teen wanted to laugh. Oh, if Edd knew. Nat grinned instead. "Nah." He shook his head. "I wouldn't wanna ruin what they have with the person they're with. I care about them too much to do that."


	11. Chapter eleven

A/N: I don't know what to say, really. You'll either love this chapter or you won't. I don't know, honestly.

Thank you for the reviews, this got love more than I thought it would. I really didn't think a lot of people would read it, but oh gosh. I'm so happy ^_^

Nat belongs to Acid! :D

* * *

It wasn't hard to tell, especially after a week when Kevin noticed how Nat's lively energy returned right when he and Edd began talking more frequently again. At first, Kevin wanted to ignore it, but it happened out of nowhere. Edd suddenly turned back into Double Dude again—just like that! Kevin could have sworn they weren't as close anymore. It's not like he didn't want them to be friends. He liked that they got along so well, but what had even happened to make them good with each other again? Kevin didn't want to dwell on it. Maybe Nat wasn't harboring any feelings for Edd like he was thinking. Maybe the freckled teen was just happy to be on good terms with Double D again. Perhaps he had just felt left out, because he and the sockhead were good friends before Kevin stepped in. So maybe the redhead was just being paranoid and jealous.

No.

Kevin could see it in Nathan's eyes, the way they brightened every time Edd was around and Kevin almost couldn't stand it. He wanted tell Nat to back the fuck off, but something in him stopped each time he tried. Nat was his best friend and he couldn't let his jealousy get the better of him. He knew what he had to do instead—make things official with Double D.

Although Kevin was worried that he would surely fuck up the second things became serious, he wanted everyone to know Edd was his. It sounded a little possessive, he knew that, but it was either that or blow up in his best friend's face.

So that was it.

He was going to ask Edd to be his boyfriend. It was about time and he knew the perfect way to ask him. Double D had been going to each of the football games to support Kevin and this particular game was no different.

None of his teammates knew what Kevin was planning for halftime. Nat furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the redhead walk over to where the cheerleaders were at. They turned and smiled at him. Nat tilted his head as he saw Kevin tell Nazz something and Nazz turned around and told the other girls. Then they started forming a pyramid. Kevin turned around, revealing a pale face. He was nervous about something... but what? Nat crossed his arms as he watched his best friend get handed a microphone.

"Kevin, what are you doing?" The green-haired teen muttered under his breath.

"Everybody!" Nazz called out. She was at the top of the pyramid along with two other girls. "Kevin's got something to say!" Her tone was so perky. She was the perfect cheerleader.

Everyone in the stands went silent and their eyes went on the redheaded jock. Kevin tapped the microphone gently to make sure it was working. When a noise came out of it, he smiled and cleared his throat.

"Look's like your boyfriend has something to say," Eddy whispered to Double D.

Double D just smiled.

"Hey guys," Kevin said into the microphone. "Hope you guys are having a good time tonight!"

The crowd clapped and cheered. The redhead scanned the crowd until he spotted Edd. His heart almost did a leap. He licked his dry lips and sighed.

"I would like to ask someone something important right now," he said, the nerves in his tone evident and his eyes on Double D. He could hear a few people say 'aww', but he wasn't paying any attention to them. "... Edd," he practically choked out.

Ed smiled excitedly and nudged the sockhead next to him. Double D lost his balance and bumped into Eddy, but quickly sat himself straight up again and stared at the redhead, feeling his heart rate increase. Just like everyone else, he had completely oblivious as to what Kevin was about to ask.

Nat didn't realize he was glaring at Kevin until Stephen patted him on the back and said, "Relax. It's halftime. It's not like he stopped to do this in the middle of the game." Nat blinked and smirked at his teammate but resumed to glaring at Kevin. He couldn't help himself. It was like a natural reaction, because he now knew was about to happen. His chances with Edd were about to be more over than they already were and he was annoyed. It was even distracting him from feeling bothered by his helmet hair and that said a lot.

"Edd," Kevin said again. "Will you... be my boyfriend?"

Double D's eyes widened and his face instantly became hot as everyone in the stands shouted out, "Aw!"

The sockhead opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Eddy furrowed his eyebrows and snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face until he finally got him to blink. Everyone turned to look at Double D when he stayed silent for too long. Nat's expression softened as he saw him get up from his seat and walk in fast strides towards the exit. He was just going to leave... without saying anything?

The color in Kevin's face completely drained. He couldn't believe it. He was just rejected in front of his whole team and half of the school. But he didn't understand. Wasn't being official what Edd wanted?

The redhead stepped back from the microphone, feeling helpless and stupid for taking that kind of risk until he saw the sockhead enter the field and quickly make his way over to him. The corners of Kevin's lips quickly twitched up in a lopsided smile. Edd wasn't leaving. He was just trying to get to Kevin. Oh, the relief that went through him. He sighed and grinned once Edd reached him.

"So, what's your answer, dork?" Kevin asked.

Double D looked down and smiled. Part of him wanted to attack Kevin for making the question so public. Could he not wait until they were alone? But he decided to let it pass, since it was sort of romantic. He lifted his head up to meet emerald eyes.

"Yes," he whispered for only Kevin to hear.

And the crowd understood what the answer was when they saw Kevin bring Edd into a tight embrace. His teammates clapped loudly and chanted, "Go Kevin! Go Kevin!" along with the cheerleaders. Nat sighed through his nose and dropped his helmet. He brought his hands up and gently clapped as he smiled softly. Kevin looked over at Nat and his smile dropped a little to see how much his best friend was struggling to seem happy. He turned away quickly and let go of Edd. He wanted to apologize to Nat, but for what, exactly? He wasn't a hundred percent sure if Nat really did have feelings for Double D, but he was going to make sure to figure it out.

* * *

During the weekend, Kevin didn't have time to ask Nat. He was too busy being tutored by his boyfriend and spending some time with Nazz and Rolf since he hadn't really hung out with them alone for too long. But on Monday morning, he and Nat arrived at school at the same time. Kevin took off his helmet and watched as Nat turned off his car and stepped out.

"Hey bro," Kevin called out to him.

Nat flashed him his trademark grin and sauntered his way over. "Aye Kev. How's it feel to be a taken man?"

Kevin frowned. "You don't have to pretend to be happy for me."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm happy for you. Why wouldn't-"

"Because I know you like Edd."

The green-haired teen's eyes widened. How did Kevin know? Wasn't he that obvious? _Deny it!_ He told himself_, like now, Goldberg... shit, you're taking too long. Wow! Okay, wow. He's not gonna believe you now._

Kevin crossed his arms. "Oh, so you do, huh?"

Nat shook his head. "No! And I can't believe you think I do."

"Why?" Kevin squinted his eyes. "What's wrong with Edd?"

"Nothing!"

"Then why can't you believe that I thought you liked him?"

"Because he's yours!" Nat threw his hands up in frustration. "He's unattainable and you're my best friend. Even if I did like him, I would never do that to you, Kev and you should know that! I respect you!"

Kevin sighed. He felt so much regret, so fucking much of it that he felt like telling Nat to punch him in the face. Punch him because he didn't know how to get the words "I'm sorry" out. So instead, he nodded and said, "I know."

But Nat scoffed. "No, you don't. I bet your intentions were to tell me to back off. You had it all planned out, didn't you?" And Nat knew he was right about that when Kevin nervously rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "You can't even trust your own best friend." The freckled teen rolled his eyes and took off into the school building, leaving Kevin to stand there in the parking lot.

The redhead clutched his hands into tight fists to stop himself from yelling out in anger. He didn't mean for that to happen, then again, he really didn't know what he was expecting.

Nathan didn't bother to smile or say anything to anyone as he made his way through the hall. He was never mad. It was almost impossible to get to him that way. But Kevin had managed to piss him off. Nothing hurt worse than knowing a best friend didn't trust you. He could hear a few people trying to greet him, but he kept his head down until...

"Nathan!" A cheerful voice said.

Nat groaned and was ready to lash out, to tell the person to fuck off, but then he saw it was Double D. He raised his eyebrows, all anger in him decreasing as he saw the sockhead's gap-toothed smile.

"Hey, dude," Nat forced himself to say, not returning the same cheerful tone.

"Have you seen Kevin?" Edd asked and flinched at the sound of the bell ringing.

The freckled teen would have laughed at that, but the sound of the redhead's name made him wrinkle his nose a little. "No." He lied. "I thought you would be coming to school with him."

Edd shrugged and smiled some more. "Eddy offered me a ride first."

Nat nodded. He could see a familiar figure from his peripheral vision and knew it was Kevin. He smirked as an idea struck his mind. If Kevin wasn't going to trust him, then fine, he would give the redhead an actual reason not to. He wrapped his arm around Edd's neck.

"How's about I walk you to class then, sweet cheeks? Ya know, since Kevin's not here to do that." He grinned.

Double D thought about it. He sighed and smiled. "That seems fine."

As they started to walk off together, Kevin snickered and shook his head. _Okay, I deserve that_, he thought, _go ahead, Nat. I know what game you're trying to play. _He jogged over to them.

"Hey, babe," he greeted Edd, snaking his arm around the sockhead's waist.

"Oh, Kevin!" Double D's face brightened.

The redhead smiled at him and then glared at Nat, but Nat didn't let go.

"Uh, Nat," Kevin said. "Can you back away from my boyfriend now?"

"Only if he wants me to," Nat answered.

Edd gasped a little. _Oh dear, not this again._

"No," Kevin said. "You're going to let go of him. Now."

Nat chuckled. "Edd, do you want me to?"

"Let go of him, Nat." Kevin clenched his teeth.

"Edd-"

"Nathan, just please," Edd squeaked, getting a few other students' attention. He didn't mean to sound so harsh, but he didn't want to deal with them. He glared up at the freckled teen.

Nat slowly stepped away from him. "I'm sorry."

Double D pouted. "No... an apology is not needed. I-I just-"

"I know." Nat shrugged. "I totally wasn't trying to hit on you, though. Because I wouldn't do that to Kevin." He narrowed his eyes at the redhead. "You don't do that to your best friend... unless you're purposely trying to piss them off." He smirked.

Kevin's grip on Edd's waist tightened as he felt anger rise in him. Edd yelped and Kevin immediately softened it.

"I'll see you later, Double Dude," Nat said, grinning at Edd once more before walking off.

"O-okay," Double D said. "Until then, Nathan." He turned to face Kevin and frowned to see the sneer on his boyfriend's face. "What is going on with you two?"

Kevin took a deep breath. He couldn't tell Edd. He didn't want the sockhead to feel responsible for something that wasn't his fault just because it involved him. So Kevin just twitched his lips up in somewhat of a smile. "Let's just go before you're late."


	12. Chapter twelve

Edd wasn't stupid—he knew Kevin was hiding something from him and it had to do with a certain green-haired teen, but he kept quiet about it for the next week. Yet, he noticed how the two best friends didn't speak at all anymore. They wouldn't even give each other a simple greeting, and during lunch, they still sat at the same table, but they sat as far away from each other as possible. Edd wanted to believe that maybe it was Nat's "loneliness" that was making him isolated from everyone, but he noticed how the green-haired teen would speak to everyone else with no problem, except when it came to Kevin, he wouldn't say a thing.

There was definitely tension between them. One day during lunch, Kevin insisted that Edd sat with him and his friends. The sockhead felt uncomfortable. None of the football players were rude to him, but he clearly looked like he didn't belong there. He smiled anyway as he listened to Jack talk about his weekend and he couldn't understand how everything he said was funny, but the others kept laughing.

Except Nat.

Nat was mindlessly twirling his uneaten spaghetti with his fork. No one had even noticed how lonely he looked, but Double D did. Double D looked at Kevin who was too busy listening to another story. The sockhead got up from his seat without Kevin realizing, and went over to take the empty seat next to Nat.

"Shouldn't you be sitting with your boyfriend?" Nat asked, turning his attention away from his food and smiling at Edd.

Double D smiled shyly back. "I wanted to see if you were okay."

"I'm always okay."

"Were you thinking of them?"

Nat furrowed his eyebrows. "Them?"

Edd's smile widened and Nat knew what he was referring to. He smiled. He had to go along with it for the sake of not bringing the sockhead into his real problems.

"Yeah," he said and he cleared his throat, trying not to sound unconvincing. "Yeah, because like I told you before, they're unavailable and that sucks."

"I understand that it hurts, Nathan," Edd said. "Though I wish you wouldn't let it put a damper on your mood."

Without wanting to, Nat stuffed some spaghetti into his mouth to avoid having to say anything and after he swallowed, he put more in. Double D raised a questioningly eyebrow and smiled.

"I see you don't want to speak about it," he said and Nathan almost choked.

He swallowed his food properly and grinned. "You're not just smart with books."

Double D brought his hand to cover his mouth as he giggled. Nat sighed through his nose.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," he spoke softly.

Edd stopped laughing and stared at the green-haired with a serious expression. "Do what?"

"Cover your laugh," Nat answered. "Your gap is cute. You should show it off more often."

"At times, I feel a little insecure about it." Edd shrugged.

"What?" Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Why? It's what makes you _you_. Double Dude, embrace it!" He gave the sockhead a thumbs up and grinned, but when Edd did nothing more but a side smile, Nat rolled his eyes. "Seriously? That's all you're giving me?"

"What more do you want?"

Nat froze and stared wide-eyed at Double D. _You_, he thought to himself. Kevin looked over to his left and furrowed his eyebrows to not see Edd there. His eyes shifted up to see him sitting next to Nat and a sneer crossed his face to see how they were looking at each other, like they were mesmerized by each other. Kevin shook his head and cleared his throat, purposely loudly for them to hear.

Edd flinched a little and looked at the redhead. Nat sighed and turned away to roll his eyes so Kevin wouldn't see. Then he gave him eye contact. Kevin smirked at Nat.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" He asked him.

The freckled teen nodded. "Yeah. Talk."

"No, I mean alone." Kevin narrowed his eyes.

Edd gasped to see the look his boyfriend was giving Nat. He crossed his arms. "Kevin, what is going on with you?"

Kevin looked at him and tilted his head a little. "What do you mean?"

"That other morning," Edd continued, "You and Nathan seemed to be outraged with each other and I know it's been bothering you, because ever since, you've been very distracted in class. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but it's been worrying me, and if you have an issue with Nathan, I would like to know why."

Kevin squinted his eyes. "Why? It's between us."

Nat nodded. "Yeah, Edd. Don't worry about it." He sighed. "Let's go talk, Kevin." He scooted his chair back and stood up.

Kevin followed him out of the cafeteria. Double D pursed his lips and looked around the table. Without those two, he felt alone. Kevin and Nat walked in silence to the restroom. A few guys exited as they entered and they waited for the last guy to leave before they spoke. Nat leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Well," he said, "Go ahead, Kevin."

Kevin looked down and shook his head. "I'm sorry for assuming that you liked Edd."

Nat grinned as a sense of relief went through him. That wasn't what he was expecting, but he was glad. "It's alright, man-"

"But let me tell you why I thought you did."

The green-haired teen threw his head back and groaned. "Fine."

"For starters, the way you look at him, like the way you were looking at him right now in the cafeteria."

"What?" Nat scrunched up his nose. "I was looking at him the way I look at anyone else."

Kevin chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "So you give everyone the dreamy eyes?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"Bullshit!" Kevin threw his hands up. "You know what, if you like him, you can just tell me. We're best friends. We don't keep anything from each other."

"I'm not keeping anything from you," Nat's voice low, too low and Kevin could see he was giving him a hard time.

The redhead sighed and grabbed Nat by the shoulders. "Fine, I won't ask you again." He paused for a moment and then added, "As long as you promise not to flirt with him anymore."

Nathan stared at his supposed best friend in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? I don't flirt with him."

"Nat it's fine. Just don't do it anymore-"

Nat threw Kevin's hands off his shoulders and pushed him away. Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Dude, relax."

"You're telling me to back off. He's my friend, Kevin. You can't tell me to stop talking to him."

"I told you to stop flirting with him. I never said anything about not talking to him." Kevin smirked. "But I guess I should have just told you to back off completely, since every time you fucking talk to him, you get that stupid look on your face and I hate it. I hate that you look at _my _boyfriend like that."

Nat rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, but you're just being jealous."

Kevin growled and grabbed the green-haired teen by his shirt. "I'm not just being jealous! I know what I see! So, just leave him alone, because he doesn't see you like that. He will never see you like that!"

Nat grinned. "Is that why he kissed me?"

Kevin's anger immediately transitioned into confusion. His eyes widened, but he still kept his grip on Nat's shirt. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"When I went over to tell him that you like him, he kissed me. Yeah, just like that, even after I told him about you. He still kissed me."

"You're lying," Kevin said through clenched teeth, the anger in his eyes reappearing.

Nat chuckled slightly. "You said best friends don't keep things from each other."

The redhead loosened his grip and his expression softened. "But why would he kiss you? Does..." He swallowed hard. "Does he like you?"

Nat shrugged. "I didn't ask."

"But you do like him, don't you?" Kevin completely let go of Nat's shirt now and stepped back.

Nat patted down his shirt and popped his collar. "I won't lie to you anymore. I do. I've liked him since I got to close him."

Kevin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Then why didn't you tell me?"

"When you told me, I couldn't bring myself to tell you."

The redhead opened his eyes. "You had your chance, Nat. He's my boyfriend now."

Nat rubbed his face and sighed. "Yeah, I got the memo, and I know I missed my chance. I get that, alright?"

"But that doesn't change the fact that he had... or possibly still has, feelings for you."

Nat could feel his heart rate increase as he thought about how true that could be. Why else would Edd kiss him? That had to be it. Yes. Edd had feelings for him. _Holy shit_. He tried hiding the smile forming on his face, but Kevin caught it.

"Oh, you would like that, wouldn't you?" Kevin asked.

Nat scoffed, but didn't say anything.

"You know what, Goldberg," the redhead went on. "You better stay away from him or I'll make you stay away."

"You're threatening _me_?" Nat pointed at himself. "I'm not even scared of you, Kev."

"You should be." Kevin snarled at the freckled teen, but Nat just shook his head and walked out.

He made his way back to the cafeteria to find that his friends were still at the table, along with Edd. He didn't know what he was going to do. He wanted answers. He needed to hear Edd say it. But why? What good would it do? Probably nothing. If Double D admitted it, he would most likely stay with Kevin and if he didn't admit it, well, Nat would feel foolish and Edd would stay with Kevin. Either way, Edd and Kevin would apparently be together. Yet, Nat couldn't stop himself from walking over to the sockhead.

He tapped his shoulder and Edd looked up at him with a smile—that adorkable smile of his. Nat wanted to back out now. He didn't want to put Edd in this situation, but then he thought, Edd had always been in the situation. He was just never confronted. But now Nat was going to confront him and he wasn't sure whether he would hate himself for it later or not.

"I might regret this later," he said and Edd's smile fell. "But I gotta ask you." Nat sat down next to him and sighed. "Edd... why did you kiss me?"

Double D held his breath. _Oh... dear. Oh, my. Oh no. _He should have known he would eventually be asked that question, he was just hoping it wouldn't be when he was in a relationship with Kevin. "Why are you asking me this now?"

"Because I told Kevin."

Edd gasped. "You what?!" His loud voice caught the attention of everyone at the table who all turned to look at the sockhead. Double D ignored them, though. "Why would you do that?"

"Relax," Nat whispered, "You did it before you were with him so you didn't cheat or anything."

"But what was the point in telling him at all?!"

"Dude, can you lower your voice?"

Edd sighed roughly and crossed his arms. "Very well," he whispered. "What was the point, Nathan?"

"He made me mad, so it kinda just..." He shrugged. "I don't know. It just slipped out."

"Is this what you two have been angry at each other about?"

"The kiss?"

Edd nodded.

"No," Nat answered. "He's been mad at me because he thinks I like you."

Double D pressed his palm against his forehead and shook his head. "Why on earth would he think something like that when you clearly have no affection towards me?"

"Uh, just out of curiosity," Nat laughed weakly. "Why do you think I don't have any feelings for you at all?"

"You..." Edd quickly looked away and opened his mouth to say more, but Kevin interrupted.

"Leave him alone, Goldberg," the redhead said through clenched teeth.

Nat rolled his eyes and glared at Kevin. Double D could see the anger in his boyfriend's eyes. He got up from his seat and grabbed Kevin's hand.

"Kevin, we should go now," he told him, an anxious tone in his voice. Oh, he didn't want any more conflict. He felt in a sort of daze. He had almost admitted something to Nat that he had been denying and avoiding, therefore, he was in no mood to deal with an angry Kevin. He couldn't. Not at that moment.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Double D sighed in relief and smiled. The redhead intertwined their fingers and they started walking.

"I have something to ask you, anyways," Kevin told him and the sockhead frowned.

* * *

A/N: LOL, does that count as a cliffhanger? If so, I'm sorry for two of them in one day if you read both my fics. They're also both similar cliffhangers, too. Wow, that's lame. I didn't do that on purpose.


	13. Chapter thirteen

A/N: This chapter hurt to write. Three more left.

I can't believe how many of you like this fic. I appreciate each and every one of you sweethearts.

Nathan belongs to c2ndy2c1d ^_^

* * *

Nathan was well aware of the stares he was getting from his friends. He turned to smile at them, but couldn't really manage to fake one.

It was Jack that finally asked, "Dude, what's going on with you and Kevin?"

"What do ya mean?"

Stephen sighed. "Come on, man. We know you two haven't really been on good terms."

"It's not hard to figure out," Charlie added.

Nat shook his head. "It's nothing, guys. Don't worry about it."

"It has to do with his boyfriend, doesn't it?" Jack raised his eyebrows and waited for the freckled teen to answer him, but Nat didn't answer. He just looked down at his hands.

Kevin tapped his fingers on the table, increasing Edd's heart rate, making him more nervous than he already was. The redhead was staying silent for too long and Edd just wanted him to say something. He hadn't said anything since they got to the library after leaving the cafeteria. Double D knew what their conversation was going to be about and he wanted to get it over with.

Taking a deep breath, Edd opened his mouth, "Kev-"

"Did you really kiss Nat?" Kevin abruptly asked, turning to face the sockhead.

Double D's eyes widened and he swallowed hard. He could deny it. He could... but why would he do that? He would only make Nathan look like a liar and that's not the kind of friend he was. So, slowly, he nodded. "Y-yes."

Kevin scrunched up his nose in anger. "Fucking great." He sighed roughly. "Why?"

Edd fiddled with his fingers, searching for the right way to answer that. "Well... why would you purposely kiss someone?"

The redhead glared at him. "Maybe because I liked them," he sternly said.

"And I might have possibly liked him..." Edd quickly looked away, not being able to stand the look Kevin was giving him.

"Liked?" Kevin asked. "Or like?"

Double D furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about it. Like. Definitely like. His silence gave Kevin the answer.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Alright, I get it. Nat's fucking weird and crazy, but he's cool and he's got a lot of good traits to him, like being understanding, accepting, and laid back." He sighed and whispered, "That's the reason he's my best friend."

Edd heard that and turned back to face Kevin. "Then why are you mad at him? It's not his fault I'm so conflicted between you two."

Kevin wanted to pretend he didn't hear that. He partly knew that was true already, but actually hearing Double D admit it stung him. "I'm mad at him because he has feelings for you too, and I don't... I-I don't-"

"Nathan does not-"

"Yes, he does." Kevin stared wide-eyed at Edd. "How could you not tell? The way he is when he's with you. I told him I could see the way he looks at you, but I'd be damn lying if I said I didn't notice that you look at him the same way. I just didn't wanna believe it, but you just confirmed it."

Double D covered his mouth with his hands and shook his head. That didn't seem believable to him. It could not be true. But then Nathan's word came back to him. _'This person is like a genius and they're passionate and they see the good in everyone. I don't think I've ever heard them judge anyone without getting to know them first.' _Okay, yes. That did sound familiar to his personality. Was Nat trying to get Edd to see that he was talking about him? _'They can also be a real smart ass, but I guess their nice ass makes up for that.' _Double D felt his cheeks getting hot as he lowered his hands from his mouth. _'I wouldn't wanna ruin what they have with the person they're with. I care about them too much to do that.'_

He gaped at Kevin. "I-I didn't know that he... Kevin, what you and I have means a great deal to me-"

"You know, I don't doubt that, Edd. But I have to be honest with you."

Edd shifted in his seat. Oh, he didn't want to talk about this anymore. It was uncomfortable. "Very well," he said anyway.

Kevin licked his lips and shrugged. "I can't be with you if I know that you have feelings for him. It wouldn't feel right. I'd feel like... I don't know how to explain it."

Double D let out a gasp. He didn't really know how he was feeling. A part of him wanted to be mad at Nat, but the other half told him not to. This was not Nat's fault. Maybe Nat shouldn't have told Kevin anything, but Kevin asked for it from not having any trust in his best friend. And Edd understood that, but now he was in this predicament that he had no idea how to escape. He wanted to be with Kevin. It wasn't what he always wanted, but he wanted it now... right? Edd couldn't decide whether the ache in his chest and the tears starting to burn in his eyes from him holding them in was from the hurt of realization that he was about to lose Kevin or from feeling guilty that he didn't really care when he should.

He wanted to want to beg Kevin not to let him go, to trust him and have faith that his feelings for Nat would go away and everything would be better. He wanted to want to save his relationship, but he didn't really, he didn't feel like he should. And Edd knew that was mainly because the thought of losing Nat kept running through his mind. If he were to give Kevin his all, he was sure he had to say goodbye to his green-haired friend, the one with the lovely bright, yellow eyes and breath-taking grin. The one that made him smile and feel so warm inside with the way he was. The one that made him feel better about himself. Edd wanted to smile just from thinking about him, but then he looked into the emerald eyes staring at him and those butterflies forming in his stomach disappeared as the sorrow took over.

Oh, why couldn't he just have both? Because sometimes life didn't work that way.

He took a shaky breath as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Kevin-"

"No, Edd." Kevin shook his head. "I-I wanna be with you, okay? Don't think that I don't. Please, don't think that. I just can't do this. You like me and my best friend. I mean, how long have you even liked him?"

Double D wasn't quite sure, but he somewhat knew his feelings for Nat had always sort of been there, just lingering in him. He sniffled, the tears subsiding. "I don't have an exact answer for that, but it has been a while. I could say maybe before summer started."

_Greaaaat_, Kevin thought. "You know, I wish you guys would have figured out that you liked each other before I fucking got involved."

"The reason that didn't happen is because Nathan and I were not meant to be. It was fate, I suppose."

Kevin scoffed. "You suppose?"

Edd sighed in defeat. The bell for fifth period finally ran. Double D quickly got up from his seat. Saved by the bell.

"Wait," Kevin said. Okay, not saved.

Double D bit down on his lower lip and faced the redhead.

"I'm done yet," Kevin told him.

"What else do you need to know?"

"I still wanna be with you," Edd," the redhead softly said. "But like I said, I can't if you have like him."

Double D raised an eyebrow. "Therefore?"

Kevin stood up from the seat. "Therefore, I think you should choose."

"Choose?"

"Between Nat and me."

Edd's jaw dropped and he stepped back. "You can't expect me to choose."

Kevin nodded. "You're right. I can't, but maybe you should."

Edd scowled at the redhead and crossed his arms. "Do you want me to choose, Kevin? Because if you do, I choose neither."

Kevin blinked. "But-"

"I apologize, Kevin, but I do not wish to come even more between you two than I already have. I hope you can mend your problems with Nathan and forget about..." Edd paused a moment, that urge to cry returning, "Me," he finished softly.

Kevin didn't say anything and Edd walked as fast as he could out of there.

* * *

"Even though we've been winning most of the games," Coach Boyce said as he watched the football players do their drills; practicing their tossing as they ran. "We'll need the practice when we play against the Lemon Brook Lumpers. You know they never lose a game and we need to break their winning streak. So, come on!"

Kevin glared at Nathan as he ran behind him. No one was tossing the ball at him yet, so he sped up until he was side-by-side with the freckled teen. "Edd does like you."

Nat could barely concentrate on anything else from how tired he was, but he heard Kevin clearly and the words made him feel a little better. "So?" He pretended to seem uninterested, but it wasn't so convincing.

"I... told... him... to choose," Kevin said through his heavy breaths.

Nat furrowed his eyebrows. "Why... would you... do that?"

"Because I... wanna... be with him... and I can't... if he likes you. He has... to... choose."

"He doesn't... have... to... do... anything." Nat threw his head back a little, feeling himself getting weaker from the heat of the sun burning down on him.

"I know," Kevin agreed. "But... I think... he deserves... to have someone..."

"Then... he'll find... someone better."

The redhead stopped running and snarled at the green-haired teen. He huffed and growled before running up and tackling Nathan. Being completely caught off guard, Nat took a rough fall.

"Hey!" Coach Boyce blew his whistle. "No tackling each other! Save that for Lemon Brook!"

"Everything was fine until you started talking to him again!" Kevin shouted in Nat's face. "What the hell did you even say to him?"

Nat tried pushing Kevin off him, but it was useless. "I didn't say anything! Why are you letting him get between us?!" He grabbed Kevin's wrists and struggled to get up again.

"Because you know how fucking amazing he is," the redhead shouted, "You know you want him just as badly as I do!"

"You're right, I do! And I wish he didn't want you!"

Kevin raised his fist, but just as it was about to make contact with Nat's jaw, he was pulled away by his teammates. Jack helped Nat up to his feet.

"Did you not hear me blow my whistle?" Coach asked Kevin, then looked at Nat. "What is going on here? If you two have problems, deal with them on your own time!"

"Oh, I'll deal with him right now," Kevin said as he tried getting to Nat, but he was held back.

Coach Boyce furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you serious, Kevin? Nat's your best friend. So what's going on?"

Nat hunched over in an effort to catch his breath. "Like you said, coach, we'll deal with it on our own time."

"I think practice is over for you two."

Kevin rolled his eyes and broke away from Stephen's grip. "Fine by me." And he headed off to the locker room.

Nat stood up straight and looked around at everyone. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, guys."

They nodded and coach Boyce blew his whistle.

"Back to running!" He told them and Nat watched his teammates take off.

The green-haired slowly began making his way to the locker room. He made sure to take as long as he could, because he did not want to confront Kevin in there. Was Edd worth this? Nat wanted to say no, but he couldn't help but feel like he would be lying if he said that. Kevin meant a lot to him, too, though. So maybe Edd wasn't worth it.

Nat pouted and stopped as he reached the door to the locker room. _'And I am your favorite person in the world, right?' _He remembered sending that text and the reply he had received from Edd, _'Yes, Nathan. You most definitely are.' _Was there a chance they could all remain friends? He damn right hoped so, because losing friends was a fucking pain in the heart.


	14. Chapter fourteen

A/N: This chapter is pretty short, but there wasn't more to add.

Nathan belongs to c2ndy2c1d :)

* * *

It was almost impossible for Kevin and Nat to avoid each other. Coach Boyce told them it was whether deal with it or they couldn't play. Practices were awkward for not just them, but the whole time. They could feel the tension there and it threw them off from concentrating. And because the two wouldn't quite play well with each other, they lost against the Lemon Brook Lumpers. Kevin didn't even care. He was more disappointed to find that Edd wasn't there in the crowd as he usually was. He didn't blame him. They technically broke up. They weren't official for so long and it was already over. Kevin knew it. He knew the moment they became an actual couple that he would fuck up. He fucked up by letting his jealousy take over.

And that just made cooking class the worst. Kevin and Edd wouldn't speak to each other, but since they were partners, they still worked together, but in silence. Kevin would complete half of what they were making while Edd did the other half and when it was finished, they would sample it without saying a word to each other about how it tasted. Then they cleaned up and just sat down, waiting for the bell to ring. Kevin knew he deserved the silence. He shouldn't have suggested that Double D choose between him and Nat, but he didn't really expect Double D react the way he did.

It was a mistake, he understood that now. He wanted to turn back time and ignore the way his best friend and Edd flirted with their eyes. He wished he would have just pretended like it didn't matter. Why did he have to open up his big mouth? People are supposed to live life without regrets and now he had a huge regret haunting him. The fact that he was single wasn't even what bothered him so much. It was that he probably lost his absolute best friend forever; someone was like a brother to him. That hurt the most. He missed Nat. He also really missed Edd, though. He hated not talking to them when they were next to him, but most of all, he hated that Nat didn't just tell him that he had feelings for Double D when he had the chance to. Why did he keep a crush from Kevin?

Sure he called Edd a dork before really getting close to him, but that didn't mean Nat had to hide that information. If Kevin would have known, he would have helped his best friend get with Edd. But now... now it felt like that was too late. Now he felt like he couldn't do that without feeling envious of Nat being with Edd and secretly wanting to punch him every two seconds. Jealousy was a bitch and it wouldn't leave Kevin alone.

* * *

Double D sat at his desk in his bedroom, trying to finish his homework but he was too distracted by the suggestion. He didn't even know how he could even choose. He didn't want to lose either of them. Kevin was someone he had known almost his whole life, although he had bullied him and his friends a great part of his childhood, the redhead had grown into someone Edd really admired. Nathan came later into his life, but Edd had to admit, he knew Nat better than he knew Kevin. They knew each other's likes and dislikes and the real personal stuff. There were things Nat had confessed to Edd that he had never said to Kevin. Double D could remember when Nat told him about he really felt about himself during one of their study sessions.

_"You know," Nat said, "I love myself. There's no doubt about that." He grinned, but that grin slowly faded. "But... do you ever sometimes wish you can change some stuff about yourself?"_

_Edd thought about it and nodded. "I do. Maybe more than I should."_

_"Really? Well, I don't think you should change anything about yourself. But me..." Nat shrugged. "I don't know. I know I annoy people sometimes, but I can't help who I am. So, I'm sorry if I bug you. I'm actually really surprised you're still helping me with math after you've gotten to know me more."_

_Double D sighed. "Nathan, I'll have you know that I very much enjoy spending time with you. You are truly a good friend and no one should ever have a problem with you." The corners of his lips slowly rose. "No need to apologize for something that isn't true."_

_Nat looked over at the sockhead and grinned again. "You're awesome, Double Dude."_

Double D smiled at the memory. Nat was really something. The doorbell broke him from his thoughts and he flinched. Rolling his eyes, he got up from his seat and left his room. The doorbell rung ten more times in a row and Edd knew exactly who it was.

"Eddy!" He scolded as he opened the front door. "I wish you wouldn't do that."

Eddy laughed. "Then maybe you should hurry up and answer the damn door."

Ed stood behind the shorter teen and waved excitedly at Double D, smiling his usual bright smile. "Hi Double D!"

Double D smiled at him and moved aside so the two could step in. He followed them to the couch and sighed loudly as he sat down.

Ed frowned. "Aw, what's wrong Double D?"

"Are you still sad about your love triangle situation?" Eddy asked.

When Double D told his friends, Eddy did feel sympathy for him, but he couldn't help but have his little boastful moment by saying, "I told you he liked you! I told you! And I also knew you liked him, too! I'm always right!" But after that, he knew to keep his mouth shut and listen to his friend vent about it.

"Love triangle," Edd said as he wrinkled up his nose. "Is that what this is?"

Eddy nodded. "Why are you letting this bug you? I thought you said you weren't gonna fuss over it, because you weren't going to choose."

"Yes, I did say that."

"But now you feel like you do wanna choose, huh?"

Edd shook his head. "Absolutely not!" He fiddled with his fingers and sighed. "I am thinking about speaking with Nathan, though."

"Are you gonna tell him that you like him?" Ed asked.

"I-I'm not sure what I'm going to say. I just know I need to talk to him as soon as possible."

And that ended up being right at that moment. Eddy offered to give him a ride. Double D hesitated, but he nodded and the three made their way over to Nat's place. Nat was enjoying his dinner of pizza while watching TV when Edd arrived. He muted the show and walked over to the door. Seeing the sockhead on the other side made Nat freeze momentarily, but he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Well this is a surprise," he said.

Double D smiled nervously. He had told his friends to wait for him, that he wouldn't be long, because he really just wanted a quick talk with the freckled teen. "May I come in?"

Nat didn't answer. He just turned around and returned to his seat, leaving the door purposely open and Edd took that as a 'yes'. He closed the door behind him and joined Nat.

"How have you been?" Edd asked.

"Been better," Nat mumbled, then groaned. "I think I know why you're here. Kevin told me about what he said to you and if you think I'm onboard, I'm not. I think you should just go on with your life."

Double D gasped a little at how much that made his heart ache. "I-I can't," he choked out.

Nat rolled his eyes and stood up from the couch. "Whatever man. Can you just leave me alone? I don't wanna deal with this."

"But we need to talk."

"We just did."

Edd shook his head and stood up as well. "No. You don't understand. We need to discuss this rationally."

Nat raised his eyebrows. "What is there even to discuss, Edd? I told you I don't wanna deal with this, so I'm not going to."

"Nathan, that is not how life works. You cannot just say you don't want to deal with something and think it's going to go away."

Nat squinted his eyes. "Yeah, well I can try if _you_ would go away. Why would you even bother coming here? Why can't you just be like Kevin and leave me alone?"

"I'm sure Kevin has wanted to come speak with you. He just doesn't know what to say."

"Of course you're defending him." Nat looked away and crossed his arms.

"Nathan!" Double D huffed. "I am not defending anyone. Why are you being so difficult?"

The green-haired teen gasped and scowled at Double D. "I'm being difficult? Me? Seriously, dude?"

"That was a poor choice of words on my part." Edd shrugged. "I apologize."

Nat rolled his eyes. "Get away from me, Edd. I don't blame you for anything, so don't think that's why I don't wanna talk to you. I'm just not in the mood right now and I don't feel like taking my anger out on you."

Edd sighed in defeat and nodded. "I will go, then." He felt his eyes getting watery, but he ignored the feeling as he walked to the front door. He opened it and looked back. "I hope you and Kevin can work things out. I'm very sorry about everything." And with that, he left, leaving Nat to stand there in the loneliness of his house.

Nat took out his cell phone from his pocket. He had new text messages from a lot of his friends, but none from Kevin. Nothing at all from Kevin. So far, Edd's hope was far from happening. The redhead wasn't making any effort. Then again, neither was Nat. One of them had to make a move in order for things to get better, but Nat couldn't help but feel like Kevin should be the one to do so first.


	15. Chapter fifteen

A/N: Longer chapter than the previous one. Yes, I did change the rating. 'T' is more suitable for this fic. LOL!

Next chapter is the last one. *Tear* Anyone have a clue of what's going to happen? I hope not. Haha!

These chapters have been coming out quickly, yes, but I'm not sure if I'll get chapter sixteen done by tomorrow. It's a possibility.

Nathan belongs to Acid :)

* * *

"I wouldn't have left," Eddy said to Double D as they made their way back to the cul-de-sac. "Why give up so easily?"

"He seemed rather bothered that I was there," Double D told him. "I didn't want to make him anymore upset." He looked out the window and saw the candy shop. Suddenly, a jaw breaker sounded wonderful. It had been too long since he last had one. He was going to tell Eddy to stop so they could treat themselves to some, but then he remembered he didn't have any money, not even twenty-five cents, on him.

Eddy pulled into his driveway not too long after and turned off the car. "I still woulda kept talking."

"That's just how you are, Eddy." Edd stepped out of the car and shook his head. "I, on the other hand, am not."

Eddy squinted his eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah."

Ed laughed. "Double D's funny."

The sockhead smiled at his tall friend. Ed could always make him feel better no matter what was going on with his lively mood and silly remarks. The three of them started walking towards Eddy's front door, when Sarah called out for Ed.

"Dinner's ready!" The redheaded girl shouted from her front lawn. "Get over here now!"

"Aw, but Sarah!" Ed whined. "I wanna help Double D with something."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him and he sighed. He looked at his friends and frowned.

"It's time for Ed to eat," he looked at Double D and hugged him. "I like Nat better than Kevin because Nat was never mean to us."

Edd sighed. "Yes, well, Nat did not know us when we were kids."

"I know, but still!" Ed smiled.

"Ed!" Sarah called out again.

"Oh, I gotta go, guys! Bye!" The tallest Ed quickly made his way to his house.

Double D and Eddy watched him enter his home before they walked into Eddy's.

"Do you believe there's a possibility for Nathan and I to be on good terms, again?" Edd asked as Eddy walked into the kitchen to grab a snack.

"Just give the guy some time," Eddy answered. "Do you want any chips?"

"Yes, some time. I will do that. Oh, and no, thank you." Edd watched his friend grab a bag of cheese puffs before returning to the living room.

They didn't say a word. The only sound was of Eddy munching on a chip. He didn't seem to mind the silence, but Double D couldn't keep quiet.

"How much time do you think he'll need?" He asked.

Eddy raised his eyebrows and looked at him. "Seriously?"

Double D looked down and pouted. "I'm afraid I don't know how to handle high school dilemmas well."

"You don't know how to handle them at all. Double D, just relax. This won't go on forever."

And Double D didn't say anymore about it as they sat there, the TV eventually being turned on and switched to cartoons. Eddy was right anyways. Even if the problem didn't get resolved, it wasn't going to bother the sockhead for the rest of his life. He would get over it.

* * *

Kevin and Nat couldn't get over it, though. They wouldn't play their best during the football games, causing Peach Creek to lose two weeks in a row. They knew their teammates were getting fed with it, but they didn't do anything about it. That wasn't the only thing being affected. Instead of laughing at all the stupid things his friends would say, Nat would just smile. Kevin wouldn't even listen to them. He would keep staring off and think about everything. He ended up confronting Nathan on a Monday morning in the men's restroom before classes started.

"Goldberg," Kevin sternly said, and then mentally scolded himself for having such an attitude. He wanted to mend the problem, not make it worse.

Nat squinted his eyes at him. "What do _you_ want?" His heart raced in his chest, hoping the redhead was going to apologize but with that tone of voice, he knew not to get his hopes up too high.

And Kevin just ended up rolling his eyes and walking out of there.

"Stupid," he mumbled to himself in the hallway. "I'm so stupid. Why can't I say I'm sorry? Why is it so hard?"

As a few days went by, he sat in his classes, trying to come up with ways he could apologize to Nathan and Edd, but each way didn't seem like the right way. He wanted to repair the problem he made, the problem he made way worse than it had to be, yet the fear that both of them wouldn't want anything to do with him started bothering him. What if he did apologize and they laughed in his face?

Well, he completely ignored that fear on Thursday when he saw Nat and the hurt and lost expression on his face. He wasn't going to let this stupid issue get in between him and his best friend anymore. He was sick and tired of it. It wasn't hurting Nat and he couldn't stand it. He didn't say anything as they did their laps and started their quick drills, but he kept his eye on the green-haired teen. Kevin could tell Nat was struggling to try and convince everyone he was fine. A few of their teammates asked and he wouldn't even completely answer them. He would just shrug it off and smile, but barely. That was an obvious, "No, I'm not okay. Ask me what's wrong." But no one would.

During their small break, Nat made his way over to the bench and grabbed a water bottle. He tried staying away from everyone to avoid conversation. He did want to vent to someone about how he was feeling, but he kept thinking it wouldn't be worth it. They would probably seem uninterested or just not care at all. Kevin noticed that's what Nat was doing and quickly made his way over. Nat almost choked on the gulp of water he was swallowing when he saw the redhead standing next to him. Was this it? Was Kevin finally to try to mend their friendship? Nat wanted to smile, but he held it back. This came much faster than he thought it would. No complaints, though. He was more than ready to hear an apology from Kevin.

And that's exactly the first thing that came out of Kevin's mouth. "Man, I'm sorry. I acted like a stupid ass to you and I wish I could take it back. You didn't deserve it."

To Nat, that was the perfect apology. It was just what he wanted to hear and he had the urge to just squeeze Kevin and say "It's alright, dude. I forgive you!" But he knew he needed to hear more, so he said nothing and waited.

The redhead sighed. "Look, I get if you don't wanna forgive me. I shouldn't be forgiven anyways, but I just wanted-"

Okay, that was enough. "Aw, come here!" Nat pulled Kevin into a tight embrace and smiled. "It's all good, Kev."

Kevin widened his eyes. "Dude, you're forgiving me that fast?" He shook his head. "I mean, I'm glad, but why? I wasn't even a good friend to you. I thought you were going to make me get on my knees and kiss your feet."

"Ew, feet." Nat wrinkled up his nose in disgust. "Yeah, I know you weren't a good friend. You were a dick."

"Hey!" Kevin sounded like an offended little child.

Nat grinned and stepped away from the hug. "You know you were."

Kevin sighed.

"But not enough to make me hate you forever," Nat told him. "And I guess I'm just a big softy."

Kevin smiled lightly, but it didn't last long for that smile to fade. "Um, well, I have something else to tell you."

"What is it?"

Kevin almost hesitated. "It's about Edd. This all started because we both have feelings for him." The redhead narrowed his eyes at Nat. "We can't just ignore that."

Nat shrugged. "You just apologized and now you wanna make me all sad again?"

_I might hate myself for this later, because I know I'm going to be damn jealous if he agrees to this,_ Kevin thought. "Look, you can be with him." He paused and chewed on his lower lip, then cleared his throat and went on, "Go and take that chance, because you two are way better together than I am with him."

Nat felt his heart leap in his chest, yet he shook his head. "No. I can't do that. What kind of a best friend would I be if I did that?"

"A good one, because I want you to be happy. Same with Edd and I just us to be the way we were before all of this happened. ."

The green-haired teen thought about it. Slowly, the corners of his lips rose, but then he just laughed.

Kevin furrowed his eyebrows. "What the fuck is so funny?"

Nat caught his breath and smiled. "Dude, think about it. We're choosing for him."

"Oh." Kevin snorted. "Wow, we are."

The two started laughing. Their teammates turned around and stared at them with bewildered eyes.

"Guess they're cool with each other again," Charlie said.

"Good." Jack smiled. "Now we can actually get through a day of practice without feeling too awkward to talk to either of them."

Nat wrapped his arms around Kevin again. "I missed you, bro."

Kevin rolled his eyes, but smiled. He patted Nat's back and said, "Yeah, I missed you, too."

* * *

Edd stared at his hands as he sat in his seat in cooking class. Kevin watched him from his peripheral vision. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. Just because they didn't work out didn't mean he never wanted to speak with the sockhead ever again. He wanted to at least be friends.

"Good morning, class," Mrs. Finn said as she got up from her desk and walked up to the front of the class. "I'm happy to announce that we'll be having our first cooking project of the year."

A few groans came from students and she laughed.

"Oh, come on," she said. "These are really fun. You get to work with your partner on your own time and students every year think it's going to be such a hassle, but it's not. You'll enjoy it, I promise." She paused and smiled. "They always do."

The class laughed. Mrs. Finn grabbed a stack of papers from her desk and started handing them out.

"For this project," she said, "You and your partner will be making a dish using at least three of the five items listed." After she finished passing out the worksheets, she returned to her spot in front of the class. "Potatoes, chicken, bacon, cheese, and eggs."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. That seemed too easy. It was the first project. Kevin figured Mrs. Finn made it easy on purpose. Edd just wanted to slump in his seat. He and Kevin weren't even speaking to each other. How were they supposed to do a project together? A loud sigh escaped him. Kevin smiled, though. He knew this was his chance to finally talk to the sockhead.

"So partner," he said and Edd immediately looked up, his eyes wide with surprise. "When are we gonna get this project started?"

Edd blinked. "You are actually speaking to me?" He pointed to himself.

"Yeah." Kevin smiled a little, but then sighed. "I'm sorry, Edd. About everything. You didn't deserve to be put through that drama."

Double D looked away unsure of what to say. He wasn't even sure how he really felt about Kevin. The redhead did try putting him through an unnecessary situation, but it was Kevin and Edd had to admit to himself that he couldn't stay upset.

"But..." he said softly, "This... everything that happened, doesn't matter at all to you anymore?" If Kevin's answer to that was 'no', Edd knew he was going to be a little annoyed, because Kevin was able to move on so fast.

But Kevin's answer was, "Of course it does, but if I can't have you, I rather just be friends with you and also have my best friend back instead of being a little baby this whole thing."

For some reason, that made Double D want to smile. He sat up straight and faced Kevin again. "Oh, but you could have... we could have been together, but-"

"But I was a jealous prick," Kevin interrupted.

Edd furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "No. I was an indecisive fool. I didn't want to choose, because I didn't want to ruin your friendship with Nathan." He closed his eyes and sighed, but when he spoke again, his voice was more soft. "And I also wouldn't have been able to decide. I wanted you both, but I couldn't have you both."

Kevin could hear the disappointment in Edd's voice. Double D opened his eyes when he heard nothing from the redhead. Kevin smiled at him.

"You're not a fool, Edd," he told him. "Never. It's not like you had control of your feelings."

"If only we could."

Kevin chuckled. "What's life without a little drama?"

"An easy life."

"But easy is boring, man. I like a challenge."

Edd gave him a lopsided smile. "Yes, I suppose that does add some interest in living."

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, so don't worry about this anymore. Nat and I, we worked everything out."

Double D's eyes brightened. "Did you really?" His smile grew bigger. "Oh, I'm so happy to hear that."

"And I'm happy to be able to say that." The redhead smirked. "I'm also happy you and me are talking again too. I missed listening to that cute voice of yours."

A red color began forming on Edd's cheeks. "Kevin..."

"Sorry." Kevin scratched the back of his head. "Uh, so what are we gonna make anyways? The ingredients aren't hard at all to work with."

"Yes." Edd nodded. "And for that, I am a little disappointed, but how does bacon wrapped potatoes with cheese sound?"

The redhead touched his stomach as he felt it growl. "Sounds like I'm hungry."

Double D giggled. He felt so much better even though he knew they weren't exactly over the whole thing. This was merely them trying to make things better between them. It was step one. He could still feel the smidge of awkwardness there, but they would get passed that. Though he didn't know about Nat. Nat had work things out with Kevin, but Edd wasn't sure how Nat would feel about getting things back to normal—whatever normal was. Maybe the green-haired teen would be like Kevin, maybe better... or maybe not.

Double D sighed.

"Something wrong?" Kevin asked.

"I'm just wondering about where Nathan and I stand now," Edd answered.

"Oh." Kevin shrugged. "I didn't ask, but I can if you want me too. I know you guys were good friends and I'm sorry-"

"Please, don't apologize, Kevin. And you do not need to ask him. I will do so myself."

"You know how Nat is, Edd, so don't worry about it."

Double D smiled and nodded. "Oh, so where were we? Ah! Yes, bacon wrapped potatoes with cheese."

Kevin's stomach growled again and they both laughed.


	16. Chapter sixteen

A/N: Drum roll, please. Tee hee ~

Thank you everyone for reading/favoriting/following/reviewing. Just all the support I've gotten. It means so much. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now here's the final chapter. Sigh. I loved this fic so much.

Nathan belongs to Acid :)

* * *

"We better not lose again," Eddy said as they made their way to an empty spot on the bleachers.

Edd rolled his eyes. "It shouldn't matter whether we lose or not. The football players play their best."

The three friends sat down. Eddy set his plate of nachos on his lap and Double D sipped his drink while Ed practically swallowed his whole slice of pizza in one bite. Ed had skills and Double D and Eddy weren't even surprised by anything he did anymore.

Double D hadn't planned on going to the football game, but Kevin insisted he did and for wanting to stay on the redhead's good side, he eventually agreed. Ed and Eddy weren't really interested, but they didn't have anything else to do on a Friday night.

"We're going to go out there and what are we going to do?" Coach Boyce asked the guys as they were all huddled up together.

"We're going to win!" The guys replied.

"That's right! Now you boys go out and make me proud!"

"Yes, sir!" They separated and got into their positions, waiting for the signal of the game to begin.

Kevin smiled at Nat and Nat grinned back.

"Ready for helmet hair?" Kevin asked him.

The freckled teen narrowed his eyes at Kevin and shook his head. Kevin laughed and the two put their helmets on.

"I'm still hungry," Ed said.

Double D looked at his half-eaten slice of pizza and handed it to him. "Have mine. I wasn't very hungry."

"You're my hero, Double D!" Ed gladly took the slice, devouring it immediately.

The sockhead smiled and turned his attention back to the game as it started. His eyes scanned each of the uniforms until he saw number fourteen. A smile crept up on his face as he watched the way Nat played. He ran and tossed the ball so smoothly that Edd couldn't look away. He still hadn't spoken to Nathan and it made him feel a little bad that the freckled teen hadn't made any effort in speaking to him either. It's like Nat didn't care anymore. He had his best friend back. Why should he care about Edd?

This finally broke Double D's trance and he looked down as he fiddled with his fingers. It didn't seem like Nat to ignore him after things were kind of fixed. He assumed the green-haired teen would have came back to him and they would resume their friendship like before, like nothing happened. But something did happen. Edd had only been in his Junior year for only two months and in that time, he had gotten into a relationship with Kevin that failed almost too quickly, realized he was also interested in Nathan, found himself torn between the two of them, and now here he was at the football game, wishing he could just run over to Nat and hold him.

Edd knew he had been wrong. He did have feelings for Kevin, but they weren't as strong as he originally thought. Of course they weren't. He wouldn't have kissed Nat if they were and that's because... it was Nat. It was always Nat. He just couldn't see it because Nat was his friend and he didn't want to think about having feelings for a friend. But now that it was clear as day, it was probably too late. Maybe Nat decided it was best to move on. Maybe it was, but Double D was disappointed in himself for not figuring out his feelings sooner.

He could have been with Nat instead. Yet, he didn't regret his relationship with Kevin. The redhead did make him happy during their time together. Everything just happened for a reason. Edd sighed and leaned against Eddy.

Eddy raised an eyebrow. "Uh, you okay there, Sockhead?"

"Eddy," Double D softly spoke. "Do you think Nathan and I were just not meant to be?"

The pudgier teen thought about it. Well, he didn't know how to answer that. "Look, if you two were meant to be, it'll happen."

"Yes, but there are too many complications."

"There's only one complication and his name is Kevin."

"Kevin is not a complication-"

"Yes, he is. If he wasn't in the way, you and Greenie would be able to be together without worrying about breaking poor little Kevin's heart."

Double D sat up straight and furrowed his eyebrows. "There is no need to be rude."

Eddy grinned. "Don't let shovel chin get in the way. If he cares about you and his best friend, he won't get mad."

"The real complication is that Nathan isn't speaking to me. I'm not sure if he still wants to."

"Ask him, Double D," Ed said. "Nat is really nice. He will talk to you." He smiled wide.

"The last time I attempted to, he told me to leave," Double D told Ed.

"That was when he was still upset over Kevin," Eddy said. "He'll listen now."

"Perhaps you're right."

"I am right. I was right about everything else, wasn't I?"

Edd squinted his eyes at Eddy and crossed his arms. "Aren't you tired of gloating yet?"

Eddy laughed. "Nope."

Peach Creek won the game and everyone in the stands stood up to cheer. Double D stayed seated and watched as Nat took off his helmet and tried fluffing up his hair with his hand. The sockhead couldn't help but smile at that. Nat was interrupted by being picked up by his bigger teammates.

"We gotta celebrate!" Stephen said.

"Hell yeah," Nat said. "Party at my house tomorrow!"

Jack held up the green-haired teen higher. "Yeah? Be serious before I invite everyone."

Nat grinned. "I'm serious. Invite anyone, all of you!"

The guys clapped and cheered. Jack let Nat down and Kevin asked him, "So I can invite anyone?"

"Yeah, of course! Invite whoever," Nat answered and Kevin smiled.

* * *

"I'm not sure, Kevin," Edd said.

He and Kevin were standing in his living room. The redhead had gone home after the game to shower and then went over to Edd's house to invite him to Nat's party.

"Come on, Edd!" Kevin sighed. "I know you wanna make things right with Nat and this is your chance."

"I would rather speak with him when the whole school isn't at his home."

"Not the _whole_ school is going."

Double D just looked away.

Kevin crossed his arms. "If you don't go, I'll tell Nat you hate him."

Edd gasped. "Kevin, there is no need to be childish."

The redhead chuckled and nodded. "Alright, I won't be childish. Just come, okay? For Nat?"

Edd was confused as to why Kevin was so supportive about him and Nat, but he agreed to go. Kevin threw his fist in the air and breathed out, "Yes" in which Edd giggled at. The redhead swallowed hard, trying to prevent himself from feeling any jealousy. He knew what he was doing, but he wasn't going to stop. He was going to go through with it. If Nat and Edd wanted to be together, they were going to be together. Nat hadn't said anything, but Kevin could see that he missed Edd.

"It starts at seven," he told Double D. "I'll see you then."

"May I bring Ed and Eddy?"

_Oh, great, _Kevin thought, but he nodded. "Yeah, it's cool."

"Are you sure it's okay with Nathan?"

"He told me to invite whoever." Kevin smirked and with that, he walked out of the house. Edd locked the front door and smiled.

* * *

"Ed! Stop shooting me!" Eddy yelled and Ed just laughed, but continued pressing down the buttons.

The three were in Ed's bedroom, playing video games and Ed was defeating Eddy, completely forgetting that Double D was playing on full health. The sockhead snuck up on them and killed them both on the spot. Ed and Eddy gaped at the screen.

"No way!" Eddy shouted. "I want a redo!"

Double D smiled. "If you insist." He shrugged.

"You're not gonna win again. You're just getting lucky!"

"Double D," Ed whined. "That wasn't fair! I was going to get you next."

"Of course you were, Ed." Double D giggled.

They had spent a good five hours playing different video games. It had kept Double D's mind off how nervous he was about attending Nathan's party. He almost couldn't sleep the night before just thinking about all the different things he would say to the guy. Where would he even start? It was just Nat. But no, not really. Nat was just Nat when Edd didn't know about his hidden feelings for the green-haired teen. Now Nat was _Nat_. And that made the sockhead a little too nervous about speaking to him.

His friends had kept him distracted, though. He was too caught up in trying to prove that he could play video games just as good as they do to even think about the party. That is, until Eddy brought it after he lost for the tenth time.

"You know what!" The short teen dropped his controller and jumped up from his seat. "I don't even like this game! I'm just playing this to pass time until we go to Nat's house."

Edd's eyes widened. "A-ah, yes!" He bit down on his lower lip nervously and stood up.

Eddy lifted up his wrist and checked the time on his watch. "It starts in one hour. Shit! We gotta get ready!"

Ed blinked. "What are we supposed to wear?"

Double D gasped. "I have to shower and pick out a decent outfit! Oh, dear! Ed, _I'm _not even sure what we're supposed to wear!"

"Clothes?" Eddy gave his friend a sly smile.

Edd narrowed his eyes at him. "Ha-ha, very funny, Eddy."

"Well, it's true."

The two left Ed's house and headed to their own. Double D made sure his shower was quick but that he cleansed himself thoroughly. The nerves from the night before started rising up again. He was never this nervous when it came to Nazz or Kevin.

But he knew he needed to relax.

Everything was going to be okay.

After his shower, he spent a good twenty minutes rummaging through his closet. This was the second high school party he was going to. The last time he went he wore a cardigan in which Nathan didn't say anything was wrong with, but he decided on wearing a white button down with blue jeans. It seemed appropriate and he was also running out of time. He didn't know why he wanted to be there right at seven. This wasn't school. He wasn't going to be late. Therefore, he took his time blow-drying his hair before placing his beanie on.

It was almost seventy-thirty by the time he went outside to meet up with Ed and Eddy. They were dressed much more casually than he was and he wanted to go back inside to change, but Ed picked him up and carried him over to Eddy's car. Ed went on and on about how exciting it was going to be because of how pretty and big Nat's house was. Eddy nodded and grinned, saying how awesome it was going to be partying in that mansion. Double D was barely paying attention to anything they said. He could only hear the beating of his heart.

When they arrived, they almost couldn't find a parking spot. The whole driveway was filled with cars. The Eds weren't surprised. Anybody on the football team was damn popular. They could hear the music playing inside and Ed became even more excited. He tried picking both his friends up, but they resisted and he left them alone as he ran up to the front door. Eddy laughed as he watched his tall friend bang on the door with his fists.

"Try the doorbell, Ed," Eddy told him.

"Oh, okay!" Ed used all the force in his fist to hit the doorbell that Double D was surprised he didn't break it.

Kevin opened the door and smiled at them, the music sounding much louder now. "Hey, guys! Come in!" He moved aside.

Ed practically skipped inside while Eddy just slowly followed behind. Double D was last to enter. He paused in the doorway and smiled softly at Kevin before quickly catching up with his friends. Kevin sighed and closed the door. Edd cringed a little at how wild everyone was with their drink in hand, the liquid spilling out of the cup as they danced. They were more excited than they were at Jack's party and Edd didn't feel comfortable being anywhere near the living room. He quickly made his way into the kitchen in hopes to find Nat in there, but the green-haired teen wasn't in sight. He turned around to see Kevin enter.

"Have you seen Nathan?" He asked.

The redhead thought about it. It had actually been awhile since he last saw him. "You can check outside. I was with him out there until I came back inside."

"Thank you, Kevin." Edd turned to leave, but Kevin gently grabbed his arm. The sockhead looked at him again.

"Good luck," Kevin told him.

Double D nodded and smiled, making the redhead smile too. Kevin released his arm and Edd walked outside. Some were grinding up on each other while others were swimming. Edd looked around, but he couldn't see bright teal hair anywhere. It was a large backyard, though, so he continued to make his way around. If Nat wasn't out there, he had the whole rest of the house to search, but he hoped it wouldn't take that long to find him. It was his party. He was bound to be somewhere near all the chaos.

Kevin leaned against the kitchen counter, sipping on a beer as he watched in amusement how Ed tried squeezing in to dance with every girl. The redhead chuckled every time a girl would push the teen away.

_Nice try, Ed, _Kevin thought.

Then his eyes went on Eddy who was trying too hard to impress everyone with his so-called "dance moves", but the drunk teens around him just laughed and shook their heads. Even in their drunken state they still didn't fall for it. After watching the mess for the longest five minutes, Kevin sighed and decided to help. He put his can of beer down and walked over to Eddy. He tapped the shorter teen on the back. Eddy spun around and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do _you_ want?" He asked.

Kevin leaned down and whispered. "Here to save your ass from embarrassing yourself any further. So, just follow me." He started to walk, but when he noticed Eddy wasn't following, he narrowed his eyes at him and Eddy finally gave in.

"I didn't need saving," Eddy said.

Kevin laughed. "Sure you didn't."

Double D walked back inside and scowled as he crossed his arms. Still no sign of the freckled teen. The loud music was really starting to hurt his ears and that just made him more frustrated. He checked the living room and asked around, but no one knew where Nat was. This was getting ridiculous. But he did get a laugh out of seeing Ed dancing around the room. At least Ed was having a good time. He was going to walk off to look somewhere else for Nat, but Ed picked him up and started spinning him around.

"Dance with me, Double D!" Ed said.

The sockhead shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to see everyone moving quickly around him. "Oh, Ed, please let me down! I will dance with you later. I still have to speak with Nathan." The fact that he had to raise his voice so his friend could hear him over the music was pretty annoying. Everything was annoying him. He just wanted to get the talk over with.

Ed stopped spinning and put Double D down. "You haven't talked to him yet?"

"Well, no." Double D sighed. "I seem to be having trouble finding him."

"Oh, he's upstairs!" Ed smiled.

Edd's eyes widened. "He is?"

His tall friend nodded frantically. "I just saw him go up there!"

"Well where was he before that?!"

Ed looked up as if thinking about it and shrugged. Double D smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Thank you very much, Ed." And quickly made his way up the stairs.

Nat barged into his bedroom and scoffed at the sight of a brunette and blond making out on his bed. "Hey! I don't care if you guys do that, but not in my room! Go do that in my dad's instead! He won't mind!"

The two teens sneered at him, but he just grinned and stepped away from the doorway.

"Get out," he told them and without protest, they obliged.

Edd made it to the top of the staircase and froze to see Nat.

Finally.

Nat watched the teens go down into another room down the hall before turning and seeing Edd. His grin was immediately replaced with a gape. Double D took a deep breath and walked forward until he was face-to-face with him.

"Hello Nathan," he said softly.

Nat couldn't wipe the shock off of him. He knew he and Edd would eventually talk, but he wasn't expecting to see him at his party. "Kevin invited you, didn't he?"

Edd stepped back and looked down at his feet, feeling as if he had done something wrong. Was Nat upset that he was there? But Kevin said he was allowed to invite anyone. "Y-yes."

The corners of Nat's lips rose slowly. "Glad you could come, dude."

Double D looked back up and smiled, relief running through him. Now he knew he had to ask, but he didn't want to anymore. "May we talk?"

Nat sighed and nodded. They walked into his bedroom and Nat shut the door. The music was silenced by the closed door and Edd was relieved about that. He didn't have to yell to talk now.

"So," Nat said. "How ya been?" _This doesn't have to be awkward, but it is_. He scratched the back of his neck.

"I've been decent, thank you."

Nat nodded and neither of them said nothing for what seemed like forever. Edd fiddled with the hem of his shirt and Nat broke the silence, "So I'm assuming you and Kevin are cool now?"

Edd let go of his shirt and nodded. "Oh, yes. Everything is fine between us."

"That's good. Yeah, he and I are cool again, too."

"Yes, he informed me of that."

Nat raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Heh, yeah." He began tapping his foot and licked his lips. "Did... did he also tell you about... um, you know, us?"

"Us?" Edd blinked.

"Yeah, he was trying to tell me to go for it with you..." Nat shook his head and laughed weakly. "But honestly, man, you should just... go be with Kevin. I mean, that's how it was supposed to be, anyways. So, go be with him and forget about me."

Edd furrowed his eyebrows. No. This was not how he wanted things to end. "Do you think it's easy to forget you, Nathan?"

"I don't know," Nat mumbled.

"Well it isn't!" Edd threw his hands up. "You don't have the slightest clue how much I have tried to move on, how much I've tried to get you off my mind, but it's been so impossible, because you, mister." Edd poked Nat's chest. "You are not easy to forget. Do you even know how much you mean to me?"

Nat was gaping at Edd the whole time, but he shook his head at the question, then he grinned. "Heh, you called me 'mister'."

Double D groaned and grabbed Nat's face, pulling it towards him until their lips met. Nathan kept his eyes wide open at first, but he slowly closed them and didn't hold back anymore. He wrapped his arms around Edd's waist and deepened the kiss. His head felt as if it were spinning around and he was pretty sure Edd could feel his heart pounding. They slowly pulled away from the kiss and smiled at each other.

"I forgot to tell you the first time," Nat said, "But you're a good kisser, so kiss me again."

Edd giggled and did so; a sweet, quick peck on the lips. Nat grinned and pressed his forehead against Edd's. Double D gently stroked Nat's cheek with his finger, admiring every single little freckle on his face. Then that finger trailed down and ran along Nat's lower lip. Nat gently kissed it and smiled.

Edd raised a questioningly eyebrow at him, a playful smirk on his face. "Excuse me, mister, but I believe you have a party to attend."

Nat rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile from the nickname. "Screw the party. The real fun is happening here in my room."

Double D sighed and rested his head against Nat's chest. The green-haired teen held him close. He wondered how Kevin would feel when he found out. He understood Kevin was sort of rooting for them to be together, but Nat knew that deep down, his best friend was going to be jealous. And because of that, Nat mentally told himself not to be so public with Edd until Kevin grew used to it. Edd was thinking the same thing.

But he was also thinking of how content he felt being wrapped in Nathan's arms. It felt like he belonged there. He honestly believed their talk would have left them as just friends again. He had never been so glad that things didn't go as expected. Edd felt so safe and comfortable and in that moment, nothing else mattered. Nothing else could matter. Everything that had happened led up to this—to them being together. Who would have thought? Certainly not Double D, but life was funny like that and he knew to just go with whatever situation occurred, because something remarkable may come out of it.

* * *

The official NatEdd playlist:

1. About A Girl - The Academy Is

2. Thinking Of You - Pete Yorn

3. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

4. Damn Your Eyes - Alex Clare

5. Find Your Love - Drake

6. So Obvious - Runner Runner

7. Say You Like Me - We The Kings

8. Let Me Love You - Mario

9. Got It All Wrong - Wakey!Wakey!

10. Square Peg Round Hole - Wakey!Wakey!

11. Dance So Good - Wakey!Wakey!

12. Almost Everything - Wakey!Wakey!

13. White Blank Page - Mumford and Sons

14. Happening - Olivia Broadfield - This is the song I couldn't reveal before, because the lyrics go, "Whatever is happening is happening here and I'm a fool for thinking otherwise." Lol, wouldn't that just spoil the ending for you, though? I thought it would so I didn't tell you guys about it. But now you can know!

Again, thank you so much for reading. I'm sad it's over, but everything comes to an end. Sigh. I love you all. :)


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